|
Viewpoint from Rio Espulgar 24/02/2017
 Rio Espulgar
Pastor, Seventh-day Adventist Church
also published in the Yarmouth Mercury
You might be familiar of the saying that says, “forewarned is forearmed” which means that if you know about something before it happens, you can be prepared for it. Preparation is vital especially in dealing with our safety
In November 2013, the country of the Philippines caught the attention of the world. The typhoon Hainan wreaked havoc in some parts of the archipelago particularly the city of Tacloban and other parts of the province. There were more than 6,000 people died in just a matter of hours, when a super typhoon lambasted the whole province
 It was not the strong wind that killed thousands but it was the storm surge caused by the strong wind. It was assumed that the people were prepared for the strong wind that typhoon Hainan would bring but not with the storm surge. If that is true, would there be less casualties if only people were also prepared for the storm surge? Well, the obvious answer will be perhaps “yes”. If people had only evacuated to the higher areas probably there would be less who suffered and died. But we don't know the whole picture of the situation. We can make a guess. However, right preparation could have saved many lives
How prepared are we when the challenges of life come such as calamity, death, illness, addiction, problem in relationships? How are we going to respond to these things?
In Luke 21: 36, Jesus says “Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” After Jesus gave the signs of the end of time, He admonished his audience to pray and to be watchful, to be alert, to be prepared
His counsel is also true for us. We might not have the ability to stop these challenges, yet, preparation and trust in God can make a lot of difference. So that when the challenges of life come, we may approach them with a strong and positive attitude that would bring us hope and light at the end of the tunnel
The views carried here are those of the author, not necessarily of Network Yarmouth, and are intended to stimulate constructive debate between website users
We welcome your thoughts and comments, posted below, upon the ideas expressed here
Click here to read our forum and comment posting guidelines
|
|
|
|
