No Warning for Tsunami

 •  4 min. read  •  grade level: 6
His voice was determined: “The giant wave will hit the coast of India in less than three hours.”
The response was apologetic: “We don’t know who to call. There is no way to warn them.”
He explained again: “In three hours this tsunami will smash everything. Many people will die.”
“I hear you! But what can we do? There is no time.”
“There are three hours! Start now!”
“But how many people can be warned in three hours? We have no system along the coast to warn the people.” “In three hours thousands will die!”
“Yes, that will happen. We can do nothing. Try another department. Good-bye, I must go.” Click.
I can only imagine how some of the phone calls went as the scientist desperately phoned various countries to warn of a looming disaster. Within fifteen minutes of the December 26, 2004, earthquake, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center in Hawaii had sent an alert to twenty-six countries, but they struggled to reach the right people.
“We tried to do what we could. We don’t have any contacts in our address book for anybody in that particular part of the world,” said Charles McCreery, director of the center.
Television and radio alerts were not issued in Thailand until 9 a.m.-nearly an hour after the waves hit. What help was that?
I am sure glad that the Lord Jesus hears us and He is not helpless. In fact, the Bible says, “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Heb. 7:2525Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)).
Of course, God does not need an address book and He does know you, your address, and everything you have done, whether good or bad. And He has tried to reach you to get your attention.
For years Tad Murty, a Canadian scientist born in India, tried to get somebody in the government to listen. And now that 10,000 people would die in a few hours along India’s coastline, they would finally plan to build a warning system. He must have been heartsick to realize that billions of dollars would soon be available to rebuild villages and roads, but nobody had been willing to spend the millions required to save lives with the early warning system that other countries use.
Tsunamis have been known in the Indian Ocean, notably one that killed several hundred people in Bombay in 1945, and scientists have been urging countries in the region to protect their high population densities by being prepared. At a meeting of the Oceanographic Commission in June, specialists concluded that the “Indian Ocean has a significant threat from tsunamis” and should have a warning network. No action was agreed upon.
But God, who knew the sinful condition of the human heart, acted on our danger years ago. The Lord Jesus Christ left the splendor of heaven and came here to tell us our need and to give His life as a payment for our sins.
During the past Christmas season many people paused to thank God for sending His Son into our world. He came to speak to us Himself. No angel, no prophet could say it the way He would. He warned plainly and firmly: “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)).
He told us what we did not want to hear, but He spoke in love. He also brought good news with the bad. He would pay the ultimate price, His life, to deal with our sin. His death was not an accident, not an unforeseen tragedy. It was prophesied and carried out according to Isaiah’s prophecy five hundred years earlier: “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities...and with His stripes [punishment] we are healed” (Isa. 53:55But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)).
The early warning system is in place. But who is listening? It cost the Lord Jesus His life; Peter said it this way: “Christ...suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:1818For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: (1 Peter 3:18)).
The Apostle Paul put it this way, reminding believers: “Ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God” (1 Cor. 6:2020For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. (1 Corinthians 6:20)).
Take time now to think about spiritual issues. Begin by reading the words of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of John. Read about how the light came into the world of darkness to bring real life. That’s chapter 1:4. Now keep reading.
There is a lot at stake. Time marches on—and eternity is too long to call yourself a fool.
You may not have three hours!