Not Hell on Earth
The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow. Then I called on the name of the Lord: ‘O Lord, save me!’ The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from trembling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalms 116:3-9 NIV)
These past few weeks, fires have been burning in Australia. It’s one of the worst wildfires in Australia’s history.
Billions of dead animals and birds are bloating and rotting. Hundreds of Indigenous cultural and spiritual sites.
More than half of all Australians (Aussie and Aborigine) are directly affected by the fires. Millions of people are suffering adverse health effects.
The cost taken was 100 billion Australian Dollars/68 billion United States of American Dollars. However, the cost is still rising.
I wonder how does a nation adapt to its own death? I’ve read where some Australians said that the wildfires were like “Hell in all its fury.”
No doubt there are times when you have felt much the same way when tragedy, like a wildfire, has swept down upon you. Quite possible you thought, “The is hell. Things can’t get any worse than this.”
If you have been thinking your problems are hell on earth, you are not the first. Israel’s king, distraught and down-hearted David, said, “The cords of hell entangled me: I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.”
To save you and me and all people from the fires of life and the never-ending fires of hell, God sent His only-begotten Son, Jesus, into this world.
Walking among us as one of us, Jesus gave His innocent life so that the guilty might be saved from hell. Now, along with forgiveness and heaven, believers are able, as did King David, to call upon the Lord.
After prayer to his gracious God, David was able to conclude, “When I was in great need, He saved me.”
God promises to do the same for the people in Australia; He will do the same for you and me...no matter what fires may be blazing upon us.