It’s easy to get caught up in the prosperity of the day, believing that life will always continue as it has during the past thirty years, devoid of widespread trauma, pain, disease, or death. But history tells us this prosperity and comfort we have grown accustomed to is not the norm, and the Bible tells us enough to know that until Jesus comes, evil people will seek to destroy as many people’s bodies and souls as possible. As the Psalmist said, "many are the afflictions of the righteous." We are not immune, nor are we protected by anything other than God’s moment by moment grace.
A sobering paper has been published by the Center for Mass Destruction Defense at the University of Georgia, and is entitled "Vulnerability of populations and the urban health care systems to nuclear weapon attack – examples from four American cities." The study looks at the potential damage from both a nuclear explosion as well as the resulting fallout, and the impact this event would have on health care, at four cities: New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Writes SundayPaper:
"Using a unique integration of computer models combining geography, climatology, census data and other variables, the professors were able to come up with myriad morbid statistics based upon a 20-kiloton blast similar to the one seen in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of World War II, as well as a 550-kiloton blast, the likes of which has never been unleashed on any human population. Their study comes complete with graphs and maps showing what areas would be affected by the blast, how many people would perish and from what, which areas would be affected by the fallout and how many would die."
Is your theology and faith biblical enough to survive this type of devastating loss and horrible suffering, which many government leaders increasingly believe will happen in the next ten years in at least one major city in the United States? Or will you be among those left without hope when the artificial, temporal prosperity your theology is built upon is removed?
We’re reminded of John Piper’s words posted here immediately following the 9-11 attacks in 2001, where he touched on both what to think and how to minister in the midst of terrorism and the resulting suffering.