December 26, 2006
The Great Earthquake
READ: John 10:22-30
I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. —John 10:28
On December 26, 2004, an earthquake shook the whole earth. Many people didn’t feel it, but the South Asian region and parts of Africa suffered a devastating tsunami as a result. According to reporter Randolph Schmid, however, “No point on Earth remained undisturbed.” That earthquake, he tells us, “shook the ground everywhere on Earth’s surface.”
The 19th-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard says that his world was rocked when his religious father told him he had cursed God for the mistreatment he was getting from others. His father’s actions shook Søren so much that he called the event “The Great Earthquake.” He wondered for the rest of his life if his family was cursed by God for his father’s actions.
We too have had or possibly will have “earthquakes” in our lives. But it’s comforting to know that under the worst of circumstances, our faith in God can—and will—hold us fast. After all, “He’s got the whole world in His hands,” and that means “He’s got you and me, brother and sister, in His hands.”
No one, nor any disaster, can snatch us out of our heavenly Father’s hands (John 10:28-29). His grip will hold us into all eternity.
From the Lord His children sever,
For His love and deep compassion
Comforts them in tribulation. —Berg