It Won't Effect Us

On Friday, March 28, 2025, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake with its epicenter in Mandalay, Myanmar, struck leaving 1644 dead, 139 missing, and 3408 injured as of the count on March 30th. Those numbers are expected to increase as rescue workers continue to search for people buried under the rubble.

On that same day, 600 miles away in Bangkok, Thailand, a city of 17.4 million people, construction workers on a high-rise building continued their work with little thought or knowledge of what had taken place in their neighboring country. About 30 minutes after the initial quake in Myanmar, tremors made their way to Bangkok resulting in the collapse of the 34 story high rise. Eleven workers have been confirmed dead and another 78 are believed to be buried or trapped under the pile of rubble.

If these construction workers had known of the earthquake in Myanmar, would they have hastily climbed down from the high rise construction site and made their way to safety? Yes, they probably would have stopped working and raced to safety, or maybe they would have thought that the earthquake is too far away to have any effect upon them.

While this is a great tragedy and millions of people in those two nations will be impacted in various ways, you and I face warnings regularly of possible danger that could be headed our way. How do we respond? I confess that growing up in Texas, I have heard the weather announcements numerous times - "Take immediate cover, tornado sighted and moving toward (the city or even the neighborhood where I lived.)" Families would seek shelter except for many of us men who would gather outside looking to see if we could see the approaching tornado.

The truth is that many of us tend to ignore warnings because they are warning about something that seems too far away in distance or too far away in time. Sometimes we think that the potential danger is just not going to have an impact upon us. At other times we think because we have previously survived a storm or disaster, we are able to survive any others that come our way. Perhaps that is why some people stay in their homes despite warnings or even orders to evacuate.

Not all warnings are about hurricanes, tornados, earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, or wildfires. Some warnings are about the spiritual aspect of life. The Bible warns us that there will be a day when everyone will stand in judgement before God. The only way to be spared from eternal punishment will be if a person has trusted Jesus Christ as his or her

Savior and Lord. Two familiar verses in the Bible speak of God's love and His desire that we have eternal life, but they also mention the result if we fail to trust in Jesus Christ.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever

believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal

life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 6:23

It is easy to only focus on the words like loved, believes, eternal, gift of God, and Jesus in these two verses and casually overlook the words perish and death. These verses carry a twofold message. One is the great message of hope, salvation, and eternal life. But the other message is one of punishment and death. One is about a life that results in heaven. The other is about a life that results in hell. While we don't like to think that the full content of these verses are aimed at us, our family, our friends and neighbors, co-workers, and all the people of the world, these are part of both God's promise and God's warning to us.

We are going to be affected by what choice we make regarding Jesus. As a believer, we have the responsibility to share that warning and message of love and hope to the world. If the construction workers in Thailand had been warned about the earthquake in Myanmar, they could have made a decision to climb down to get to safety. The only way people will know of their need to trust Jesus Christ is if someone shares the message of warning and hope.

This week as a believer, give thanks for your faith in Jesus and take seriously the responsibility to share the warning that others need to hear.