FROM TRANQUILITY TO TERROR
Our youngest daughter, Autumn, moved to Hawaii this past September. She wanted to have an adventure. Just a few days ago her adventure turned into something she hadn’t quite bargained for. She was sound asleep, having worked late the night before, when the alarms first went out.
Ballistic missiles are incoming.
People were warned to take shelter immediately.
This is not a drill.
Autumn was awakened about 10 minutes into the situation to discover tranquility had turned to terror. It was all so surreal. As she tried to understand what one roommate was saying over the phone from work and figure out what she and the other roommate who was with her should do, it was difficult to comprehend it all. It seemed like a bad dream. How could this be real? What do we do? Where’s the cat? Where are we supposed to go? Am I gonna die? This seems dumb…who would bomb Maui? Where’s my mother? It’s a lot for someone who has been asleep to wake up to and piece together.
Thank God it was a false alarm, but the people of Hawaii did not know that for about 30 minutes.
Her father and I were sitting quietly in our home in Kansas, blissfully ignorant of the entire situation until it was over. She told us what had happened. The range of emotions she went through. How she had a feeling it wasn’t real, but it was upsetting nonetheless. As is our way, we joked about it and chalked it up to another great story to tell about her life, “Remember that time Kim Jong Un tried to kill me”.
As time went by and some of the details of how all this happened began to surface, I realized just how panicked many of the people really were. A father told how he took his two young daughters into the bathroom and got in the bathtub. He planned to lay over them and shield them from the blast. The emotions he must have felt as a parent. Videos have been released of people running frantically. Panicked. Scared. For about 30 minutes, it seemed like the end of the world for some people. No real place to go to be safe from the attack. Many feared for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Some made desperate phone calls while others sat silently praying. Hell, fire, and destruction was on its way.
30 MINUTES VS ETERNITY
I have to wonder…why don’t we care as much about the condition of our souls as we saw in people that day in Hawaii? How are we not just as concerned about the state in which we will stand before our Lord?
Hell, fire, and destruction IS on its way.
You don’t have to worry about North Korea.
Trust me.
If you end up in the Devil’s Hell, you’ll wish you were in North Korea instead.
How could we not have a serious sense of urgency about that? If you are a Christian, are you living a life that glorifies God? Are you letting the light within you shine? Are you shackled by sin, pride, greed, or something else? Have you been letting fear keep you from doing the Lord’s work?
To the poor lost soul who hasn’t surrendered yet…what are you waiting for my friend? Satan’s got you convinced that you don’t need salvation. Maybe he’s tricked you into believing God doesn’t exist. Perhaps you think you can’t be saved because you aren’t ready to stop sinning just yet. You’ll get saved later.
Let me remind both my Christian brother and my lost friend of something…Satan is the father of lies. All he does is lie. Jesus told us that in John 8:44, He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Hell, fire, and destruction is on its way and there is no shelter that will protect you from it. The only thing that can save you from its flames is Jesus. He is our safe haven.
The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; And the Lord shall cover him all the day long, (Deut 33:12)
If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31)
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
This is what awaits Satan and all those he deceives: fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever, Revelation 20:9-10.
My lost friend, you may be living a relatively tranquil life right now because Satan has you deceived, but all you have waiting for you is terror. Terror is the reality that awaits you. Don’t put salvation off a second longer. All those who are saved want you to know and experience the tranquility of the gift of salvation found only in Jesus Christ.
Fellow Christians, we should all be in a panic to reach as many lost souls as we possibly can before it is everlastingly too late. It should be part of our continuous effort to draw closer to the Lord while we study to show ourselves approved.
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(Photo by Sophie Wackerman)
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Mike and I were on Waikiki Beach when the tsunami hit in 2011. Not a drill nor a mistake. Leaving our hotel room with only our backpack in search of higher ground. We stepped off the elevator into the lobby of the beachside resort to find management announcing this was a tsunami safe hotel. Guests would be okay from the 8th floor and higher (along with other instructions). “Do not leave the hotel. You are safest here!” Having our own version of a natural disaster (tornado) I believed the local knew best. While listening to his directions, I noticed a young couple in their early 20’s watching him speak, struggling to comprehend. This Spanish speaking couple (from Brazil) was terrified and confused because the emergency announcements overhead at 10:30pm were in English and Japanese. I could see the pain and anguish on their faces. I recognized their christian faith by a necklace she was wearing. Approaching them I showed her my rosary, Her face lit up as if she had been reunited with her own family in safe arms! Our lives were instantly bonded! Mike in his best broken Spanish explained to them the situation, safety precautions, and because our room was on the 14th floor, we invited them to come hold vigil with us and pray together. Our Christian faith is universal, Catholic. Our prayers are the same in English and Spanish and so as we said the Rosary together, we alternated reciting…one decade in English and the next in Spanish. You know the rest of the story. No damage to Hawaii.. from terror to tranquility…only through Jesus! I’m loving your blog!
What a wonderful example of faith, Kelly, and of how people act when the true love of Christ is in their heart. I feel so blessed you have come into my life. God bless you!
Unlike you, my daughter, living in Hawaii contacted me by text with a screen print of the alert she had just received. For over 20 minutes I was trying frantically to ascertain if this was real or false. Assuring her that she would be okay and that I loved her. I had to calm myself and many short prayers were vocally lifted between us. Thankful that this was a mistake. She had decided to make a plan with her housemates for any future disasters that might come up. Thank you for sharing your story.
Thanks for sharing your story Shelly. I’m sure most people living there now have developed a plan after going through this. I just hope they have a plan for eternity as well. God bless!