SCRIPTURE: Lamentations 2
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
All who pass your way clap their hands at you; they scoff and shake their heads at Daughter Jerusalem: “Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of the whole earth?” [Lamentations 2:15]
Its hard to imagine the horror of the destruction that the people of Jerusalem experienced; its hard to imagine the horror of destruction the people of north Japan are going through.
In both cases, the people are in a state of shock.
Their homes, schools, roads, vehicle, villages and towns – all swept away, nothing left.
I am not saying that this is God’d judgment against Japan, like Jeremiah said of Jerusalem.
I am only comparing the horror of destruction, and the crisis of the survivors.
No one is scoffing northern Japan (that I know of), but the verse above shows how bad things were – the marvelous city is now a ruins.

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” [Luke 21:5-6]
The perfection of beauty, the picture of tranquility, the beautiful architecture – no more!
Why is it that God allows these things to happen?
Sometimes, it is the direct result of God’s judgment (as with the fall of Jerusalem, or the fall of the third Reich); sometimes it is the natural result of living in a broken, messed up world (the case wig Japan?).
In either case, God is not the direct cause of this suffering, we are!
Because of sin, death and hell, nothing in this world lasts forever.
All things eventually come undone in this world – sometimes directly because of sinful choices, sometimes indirectly because of the brokenness of this world because of sin.
God does not cause it, but He does direct it.
He directs it for a higher purpose; He uses it to get our attention, to call or warn us, to show our dependence on Him.
The fall of Jerusalem in Jeremiah’s day, the destruction of the temple in Jesus’ day, these are not God’s careless or cruel demonstration of his power, but God’s way of getting our attention, calling us back to Him.
The same is true for the recent economic collapse, or the presenn crisis in Japan, or the unrest in the middle east.
God graciously humbles our pride or removes our crutches to show us our need for Him, and His eager willingness to help us.
Misery, death, natural disasters, war, injustice, hunger, poverty, these are not God’s idea, nor are they His plan or purpose – we are responsible for them.
But thankfully God redirects the folly and misery of our choices to show us the way back to Him, and to hope, and to help.
Will we look to Him, or will we foolishly carry on in our own wisdom and strength?

PRAYER:
Lord, the destruction in Japan shakes me to the core, I the what I see and I can’t imagine how you could allow it to happen. Still, it reminds me of our desperate need for Your help. As You bring us to our knees, hold out Your hand to lift us up, that we might not depair.