2012

Last night I saw the movie 2012 with some of the guys. Like most end of the world movies, it was great entertainment, but not much more. I mean, there was this one scene that just killed me. John Cusak is in Yellowstone National Park on the top of a mountain as the caldera is erupting. (If you didn't know, Yellowstone is a dormant volcano, and has been dormant for about 600,000 years. According to scientists, over the last few million years, the supervolcano has erupted 3 times, in period of about 600,000 to 700,000 years. So, it is due.) So Cusak, who is in the middle of this supervolcano eruption, gets into a camper and starts driving. His daughter is sitting behind him and looks in the rear view mirror and seeing something similar to the mushroom cloud from Nagasaki rising behind them. Of course, the Cusak is like "everything is going to be fine." So, John Cusak, in a camper, starts driving down a mountain as the blast from the eruption of the Caldera of the Yellowstone Supervolcano is chasing them. They make it out of course.

Anyway, the movie was filled with scenes like that. They were totally awesome, but predictable. It would have been more realistic if everyone died. But then there wouldn't have been a movie, so I guess I will just have to live with Hollywood overdramatizing everything.

So, this movie got me thinking. It starts off in 2009, as a typical day around the world. People are going to work. Kids are playing. The surfer dudes in California are surfing. Everything is normal. But in three years, the entire planet basically blows itself up.

As the movie is over, everyone leaves the theater. I go to the bathroom because that is what I do after movies. Teenagers are hanging out in the mall waiting for their parents to pick them up. All is well in New Philadelphia, Ohio as well as the rest of the country. So I am thinking, after seeing a movie like 2012, does anyone appreciate the fact that they are alive. I mean think about it. Think about how many things in the universe have to be so perfect just for life to exist. And on top of that, how many things in science have to remain perfect for life to continue to exist... For 6,000 years.

The Earth has stayed in orbit. The moon hasn't decided to fly off into outer space. No asteroids have devastated our planet because of our magnetic field. We have a magnetic field to protect us from solar flares and asteroids! Have you ever thought about that? Just like in Star Wars, our planet has a force field around it! That is sweet. Trees and plants take in what we exhale, and give off what we inhale. Because of gravity we can walk around without flying off into space. And this fact just baffles me. All molecules are held together by an intermolecular force. If that force was any different, then everything in existence would break apart and nothing would be in solid form. Our bodies would essentially fly off into space in trillions of microscopic pieces.

So I am thinking about these things and I am like, Wow, God really has to have everything under control for us to live. And I read verses like Isaiah 40:12 and Isaiah 42:5, which say


"Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?"


and


"This is what God the LORD says— he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it"

It is absolutely incredible that we can even take our next breath. Countless miracles need to happen every second in order for us to live. This is just astounding. And the crazy thing is, we keep on living, but rarely take any time to marvel at the fact that we exist. Look at your hand. Look at how perfectly it is designed. How you can control each finger and move it to pick up stuff.

I have heard a lot of people say things like "I wonder what is going to happen in 2012." I have said that. But when I think about it, I should be thanking God every day that we are still here. And we have been here, hurling through space around a massive ball of fire on this big hunk of molten rock for at least 6,000 years. And every day I wake up, and see the sun rise in the east, and I think, "How much longer is this thing going to go on?" How much longer will we be able to live on this planet without chaos happening? I don't know the answer to that question. But I do know that with every passing day, the Return of the King draws nearer. And my spirit roars inside of me whenever I think about the Day. Until then, we will all keep living. Keep existing. Keep loving.

It may be in 2012. It may be tomorrow. It may be some other time. But King is coming.

"He who testifies to these things says, "Surely, I am coming soon." Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen." Revelation 22:20-21


JN