What Do You Do When Disasters In Life Come?
“I scream and run when I see danger coming my way.”
“I don’t know. I usually find myself immovable when things like that happen.”
“I feel scared, not knowing what to do, so I cry for help.”
People act and react differently when calamity strikes. Some panic while others are still able to maintain their composure. Some know what to do, but there are others who don’t have a clear idea on how to handle it.
What about you? What do you do when you experience a disaster in life?
When I was in my early twenties I experienced one of the strongest earthquakes in Manila with a 6.8 magnitude. At that time, I was bringing my Christian coworkers to their bus going back to their province. It was then that we all felt the tremors. The first one lasted for several seconds, the second tremor lasted longer, but the third one was the strongest and scariest. We thought it was the end of the world, as we saw electric posts dancing, the buses bumping into each other, the tall buildings swaying—everything was in a state of pandemonium. As a Christian, my natural reaction was to call upon the Lord to rescue me. It saved me, as well as those others that I encouraged to pray with me during that time. He answered us.
It is interesting to note that Jesus already prepared us for times like these. It is written in the Bible that He told his disciples, “And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.” (Matthew 24:6-8).
Jesus, the Son of God, knew what would happen in the future—in our time. Therefore, we should put our complete trust in Him. In Psalms 62:8 we are told, “O my people, trust in Him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge”.
But wait. Not all disasters are natural or physical in nature. There is another type that is emotional, psychological, spiritual, social, or financial in nature, just to name a few. And this kind of disaster is equally devastating…problems in life that come our way, often times unexpectedly. I had lots of those experiences myself; difficult times when I despaired thinking that a certain problem will last forever, or that there is no way out for me. At times, such types of disasters are even harder and more painful to deal with.
What should we do then? Does the Bible say something about how to handle these things, too? Well, yes. Psalm 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take”.
Jesus is delighted when we have faith in Him. Like little children, He desires that we draw near to Him, and believe that He is the answer to all our problems. He wants us to come to Him in prayer and tell Him all that we are worried about. Paul, the apostle of Jesus, wrote to the church at Philippi saying, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceed anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:6-7). Jesus invites us to call on Him. He listens…and He will show us great and mighty things that He can do in our life.
So, the next time you feel like relying on your own wisdom and ways to handle the calamities in your life, whether it is natural or not, stop. Consider Jesus. He is trustworthy. He promised to be our refuge in times of trouble. Psalm 46:1 says it perfectly well, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea”.
Written for GIG Church Website by:
Bro. Paris Espana
