First there were thunderclouds — dark, massive and threatening. You didn’t have to be a weatherman to predict an uncommonly strong storm was about to unleash its power. Even animals in the barnyards were nervous and skittish. Then it began. The rain came down in torrents and sheets. It pelted the ground and pummeled the rooftops. It fell so heavily that the windshield wipers in cars were useless, and drivers couldn’t see the roads. In places the rain poured down at a rate of three inches per hour. In the canyons of the Black Hills, flash floods raced down gullies, uprooting trees and tumbling rocks off hillsides. Countless flash floods joined forces and flowed into Rapid Creek, the main drainage channel for the whole area, changing it into a raging river. It beat angrily against the dam that protected the town of Rapid City.
The mayor viewed the surging floodwater behind the dam and ordered the keeper and his family to evacuate at once. Then he called the local radio station and told them to stop their normal broadcasting and instead send out warnings for townspeople to evacuate. It was afternoon. The warnings continued for half an hour; then the electrical power went out and the warnings were no longer heard.
That evening the floodwater broke through the Canyon Lake Dam. A wall of water raced down the floodplain of Rapid Creek, and Rapid City was in its path. Houses were washed off their foundations; cars and trucks were swept away; bridges spanning the river crumbled into pieces. Many people were caught in the floodwaters. Some clung to uprooted trees as the flood carried them away, never to be seen alive again. The Rapid City Flood of ’72 claimed 238 lives and joined the list as one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit the United States.
Thankfully most of us won’t ever be caught in the floodwaters of a raging river, but there is a different kind of flood threatening every member of the human race. This unbelieving world is headed for judgment! The storm clouds are looming on the horizon, and they are dark and menacing! They are approaching because God hates sin. Several verses in His Word tell how He will pour out His wrath: “Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil” (Romans 2:99Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; (Romans 2:9)). “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:1717The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God. (Psalm 9:17)). Those who never repent and look to Jesus Christ by faith for forgiveness will enter into judgment for their sins, and it will be a catastrophe like a great flood!
God does not want souls to carelessly end up in the destruction of hell. He gives them warning so that they can escape. “Flee from the wrath to come” (Luke 3:77Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (Luke 3:7)) is one such warning, and “I tell you ... except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:33I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3)) is another. Although God hates sin, He loves the one who has sinned. He loves them so much He sent His Son into this world to be their Saviour. On Calvary’s cross the Lord Jesus gave His life so that they might have a way to be saved. It is to Christ, the Saviour of sinners, that souls must run if they want to be saved.
The warnings on the radio continued for a half hour before the loss of power cut them off. Many people probably listened and were alarmed enough to heed the warning. Others didn’t obey and perished. Will you be alarmed at God’s warnings about your sins enough to do something about it? Or will the warnings, in your case, fall on deaf ears?
One reason the flood claimed so large a human toll was that a substantial part of Rapid City was built on a flood plain. Where are you building your life? Are you building it on Christ the solid rock, so when the flood of God’s judgment comes you will be safe? Souls build their lives on Him when they come to Him in repentance and faith, and then seek to live by His commandments. “Whosoever [hears] these sayings of Mine, and [does] them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock” (Matthew 7:24-2524Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 25And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. (Matthew 7:24‑25)).
Or are you heedlessly building your life on the flood plain where at some moment God’s judgment against sin will unleash its awful power? “Everyone that [hears] these sayings of Mine, and [does not do them], shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:26-2726And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:26‑27)).
If you don’t know Christ as your Saviour, a flood of judgment is headed your way. What will you cling to in order to be saved? Nothing, nothing apart from faith in Christ can bring salvation to the human soul.
After the terrible destruction of the Rapid City flood, the city council wisely decided to never again issue a building permit for a home in the area of the flood plain. Won’t you be wise and cease from building a life for yourself that must come into judgment because of sin? Instead, come to the Lord Jesus as the only Saviour of sinners. Life with Him is far more rewarding.