Greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,
You never know what you’re going to get in these times. With all the snow and cold I thought we had experienced about all we could. Yet it wasn’t. There was more that was going to impact my family.
My younger sister, Kathy and her husband Randy, live southeast of Manchester, Ok. This past Friday something happened that caught them off guard and made them rethink some things. They live about 2 miles south and a mile and a half east of Manchester.
Just before 8 a.m. Friday morning there was a 4.2 earthquake about 2 miles south and 3 miles west of Manchester. That put the epicenter of the earthquake about 5 miles from where Randy and Kathy live. When I found out about it I text her to find out how things were going.
She text back and said --- “It didn’t last very long. It just started rumbling and building and then it was like a big explosion. We were in the office where a glass frame on the top shelf fell and busted. Stuff fell off shelves in the pantry. The snow was shaking off the trees in the front yard. I thought it was the beginning of the end.”
We went back and forth texting for a bit then she text --- “It’s supposed to have an aftershock coming. You know there’s a huge gas storage in the caverns under us --- so if we go it may be big!” That was when I got a little nervous for sure.
But she said they were doing okay. On Sunday evening I texted back to find out how things were going with them. She said that everything was good. They were on the way to church at Bethel Hawley. They hadn’t noticed any problems with the house, barn or anything else on their land.
I can only imagine what being that close to the center of an earthquake would have been like. Yet, God took care of them and things were going well. As I thought about everything that they had going on, I thought about what Kathy said – “I thought it was the beginning of the end.’
In the Revelation there are several references made to earthquakes happening as things progress toward the end. In 6:12; 8:5; 11:13 and 16:18 we find that earthquakes took place. Yes, they are in different areas of the end times, but they are still happening. So when Kathy said she thought it was the end, I’m sure she was thinking about what the Word says.
I really don’t know how every step will go when the end of time comes, but I do know that Jesus will be there. The Revelation 19:5-7 says --- And a voice came from the throne saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” 6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude and as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty peals of thunder says, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.” 7 “Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.”
I don’t know whether it will be from an earthquake, a ice/snow storm or some other way when the end for me comes. But one thing I do know is that Jesus will be there and I will finally be home forever. Randy and Kathy are ready to meet Jesus. The question we must ask ourselves is – “Are we?”
Ask Him into your heart, confess your sins and trust Him to save your soul and He will carry you through (see Romans 10:9-10).
JESUS, JESUS, JESUS, there IS something about that name!!
Christ only, always,
Bro. Paul
Brother Paul Nachtigall is the preacher at Highland Baptist Church. He can be reached at bropaul@centramedia.net.
