Daily Devotions
“There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” Matthew 24:7
The other day my wife and I were upstairs soon after supper and noticed everything shaking on the dresser top. Unusual in the Midwest, the shaking turned out to be tremors from a moderate earthquake centered in southern Illinois. While for the world as a whole such tremors are not that unusual, they gave us pause for reflection. How easily and unexpectedly nature can unleash destruction upon thousands of people!
Jesus describes signs of His second coming in Matthew 24 and includes this reference: “There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.” He refers to such signs as “the beginning of birth pains” (Matthew 24:8). We can easily live for the moment, forgetting about the second coming of Christ. Even a slight earth tremor calls us to account as we look away from ourselves to the One who lived, died, and rose again for us and will come again in glory at any moment.
While earthquakes can strike fear into the hearts of people, we also recall the solid foundation of God, our Refuge and Strength, who dwells in the midst of all the turmoil. Thank God for His control of nature and for His redemptive plan, which will soon bring the whole creation “into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).
PRAYER: Thank You, Lord God for Your redemptive plan which will bring us into Your glory at Christ’s second coming. Amen.
(Devotions from “My Daily Devotion” by Dr. Stephen J. Carter, copyright 1998 CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend. For ordering information, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit www.cph.org.)