Distant thunder

Sometimes, in the area where we live, particularly in summer, we can hear the sound of thunder rumbling across the mountains that are about 60 kilometers (37 miles) away. Occasionally at night we see lightening ripping through the clouds as a storm rides high above those mountains. It’s obvious to even a casual observer that a tempest has been unleashed.

When I have been out tramping in those same mountains, I have, more than once, been caught in a sudden storm that has sweep in almost unnoticed, and left me cold and wet. Sadly many groups of trampers have been caught in similar circumstances, not rescued in time, and some, or all, of the group has perished. 

We are living in strange, perilous times; there is the sound of distant thunder, and yet many seem deaf to the building storm. Anyone who is watching “current events” with a keen eye must sense that those events are precursors to something dramatic unfolding. 

This century is just two decades old, yet we have witnessed scenes of terrible natural destruction, in Europe the Euro crisis is far from over, the United Kingdom has, after a long and painful debate finally left the E.U; Scotland seems determined to become  independent of the rest of the U.K. Another war in the "Middle East" cannot be far  away, and Turkey is facing off with Syria along their troubled border. Iraq is being torn apart, and China and Japan have reopened a festering sore over who owns the Senkaku Islands, north of Taiwan, in the East China Sea. COVID-19 has made a mess of us all, and continues to batter economies world-wide. Police forces in many countries react to protest with increasing violence, and often are as heavily armed as many armies.
 

Civil unrest is on the rise right across the globe, from Brazil to Ukraine, Egypt to Ecuador, Turkey to Thailand, protestors are pushing to throw out Presidents or Prime Ministers, ordinary people seemingly want change... and they want it NOW. The global economic crisis has left a legacy of very deep division in most communities... the rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer is the common cry. Gun crime is rampant in the USA and the politicians seem impotent in the face of heavily armed proponents of the Second Amendment. Almost 20,000 people died in gun related crimes in 2020

But as the days of Noah were, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered into the ark. And they did not know until the flood came and took them all away. So also will be the coming of the Son of Man. Matthew 24:37-39  

Our collective morality is “shot to hell” and God’s word PROMISES judgment to those who condone and practice sexual immorality… yet unbelievably even sections of the church are saying that such evil is both natural and “allowed” by the god they worship. How much longer can the state sanctioned murder, (abortion) called a “woman’s right” go unpunished? 

The signs of nature’s rebellion are everywhere, but the debate still rages; are these things cyclic (some are) or are they catastrophic, and possibly fatal to all of humanity. Some say that the record-breaking wild and wacky weather of the last few years is simply the result of better record keeping on our part… well tell that to all the whales dying of starvation in the Southern Ocean as their only source of food, krill, has simply vanished because the water has warmed by half a degree or so! 

Within the church millions are being fed a watered down gospel that reduces the need for personal repentance and holiness, replacing those lofty, but obtainable, ideals with new age philosophies that reek of works and self-reliance.  

I, for one think that we had better prepare ourselves for the coming storm, for it will surely break upon us…the sound of thunder is being heard by those with listening ears. 

We are usually warned well in advance to prepare for a natural storm brewing in the atmosphere, and have time to make the necessary preparations, and likewise we are being warned of a storm brewing in the God-sphere, it's past time to make preparations.  

Gather yourselves together; yea, gather, O nation not desired; before the birth of the decree, the day shall pass like the chaff; yet not before the hot anger of Jehovah comes on you, yet not before the day of Jehovah's anger comes on you. Seek Jehovah, all the meek of the earth who have done His justice; seek righteousness; seek meekness. It may be you shall be hidden in the day of Jehovah's anger. Zephaniah 2:1-3 NKJV