Mercy---for Whom?

I found the cable.  But then the camera died.  So for awhile, I'll still be posting pics taken awhile ago.

Sunday, March 11, 2012, was one year since the quake.  Bethel Baptist Church had special evangelistic services centering on the theme of--of course--last year's earthquake and ensuing tsunami.  It must have been  horrible.  Horrible and heart-rending to see loved ones snatched by the jaws of a merciless black wave then sucked out to sea.  It would be hard not to cry when hearing of some of these experiences.


Distributing Goods at Temporary Housing

How real is it to me that there is a "merciless black wave"--even when there is no tsunami--threatening to claim lives for eternity, where there will not be even one moment's respite or slightest hope of relief?  Would I just as readily feel my heart torn apart, and find tears streaming down my cheeks out of compassion for these?

This past year, I often thought about how last year's catastrophy was an act of God's mercy.  Before the quake, the average Japanese person went through life conforming to social norms and trying to amass material wealth and personal standing while coping with life's stresses.  He did not have time to think about what he was doing or about the consequences of such  living.  But now, he has all he time he needs to ponder things of eternity.  Maybe, I used to think, this was a merciful stop sign God gave the Japanese people, especially those of the Tohoku (northwest region).

"He hath set eternity in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

I am seeing it as God's mercy for His child too, a reality check of eternal things and a heads-up to tell others about them.

"He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bearing his sheaves with him."  (Psalm 126:6)