Stand in Wonder

Psalm 65:5-8
5 By awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being girded with might;
7 who stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
the tumult of the peoples,
8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.

Some sources are saying that the death toll from the Myanmar cyclone will top 150,000. China’s earthquake has reportedly claimed 80,000, and that number could rise. Over 200,000 dead. All the result of a short earthquake and a relatively short storm.

Several weeks ago I was listening to John Piper preach on evangelism. At one part, he said something like, “Be not amazed that (unbelievers) aren’t saved; rather, be amazed that you are.” [It’s quite possible that someone else said this and I’m confusing them…doesn’t matter.] When I read this passage, this came to mind:

Stand not only in wonder of God’s power shown through these acts of nature; additionally, stand in wonder that God stops them.

He calms the waters. God’s mercy grabbed hold of the earth’s plates and calmed them and stopped the quaking. It’s mercy that any Burmese or Chinese have been left alive. Why were they left?

“So that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at His signs.”

God still has “sheep that are not of this fold.” They must be brought in. Once they are, the quaking and the hurricanes and the hail and waves will not stop. The fire will not be quenched. God’s patient endurance with the sins of this world is fast approaching its end.

Wonder at your Creator and His revealed power in nature.