What is God’s message to us in all this?
Dear Church,
“It’s heartbreaking … to watch animals who are absolutely helpless” were the headline words I read in an article in Globe and Mail this week. The article described the devastating effects of the flood that killed thousands of livestock as houses, farms, highways, bridges, and railways were washed away in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley. Farmers were desperate to return to their animals for food and water following the evacuation order, but they were held back. Thousands of cows have already perished, and many more animals are in danger. Rainfall of this magnitude, the experts say, is the first in five hundred years. The damage from the historic flooding is even more acute because of the drought and forest fires that destroyed the ecosystem this past summer.
The provincial government declared a state of emergency, and the federal government swiftly deployed the military to help with rescue efforts. Prime Minister Trudeau promised ‘whatever help’ the flood victims needed. We will remember some of the events that took place in 2021 for a long time. It has been an exceptional year. Can you recall any other year that has given us the kind of indelible lessons on climate change and its devastating impact on our lives? Fighting COVID-19 was bad enough, and yet we had to endure the effects of climate change. Unbelievable!
I have been living as an immigrant in Canada for almost fifty years now, and I have never seen ‘Beautiful British Columbia’ suffer this much. Remember this past summer’s heatwave in the BC interior? Hundreds of people died from heatstroke with temperatures soaring into the mid-forties. And now this historic flooding has serious consequences in agriculture, livestock farming, transportation, tourism, and so forth. Panic set in the other day when supermarket shelves became empty. The head of supermarket chains in BC appeared on television and made a special appeal not to panic buy, that it was totally unnecessary.
We really need to pause here and ask why we are going through all this calamity. What is God’s message to all of humanity? What is His special message to you and me, individually?
If only we knew the power of your anger!
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Ps. 90:11-12)
May the LORD bless you,
Pastor Minho Song
