Early one morning I stepped outside, before the sun had risen, to let out one of the dogs where I house-sit. Henry is the youngest of the two dogs and the most anxious to take care of his morning routine. He has quite the fetish in regard to this morning (and evening) ritual. He can't seem to bring himself to do his "duty" without me accompanying him. I actually don't mind this deviation from the norm because it gives me the opportunity to start my day with Jesus in His Creation; to absorb His goodness through the sights and sounds that nature makes as it stretches, yawns, and rehearses bird scales to warm up the vocal cords for the day. Then at night, when the birds are singing their goodnight prayers, those few quiet moments literally calm the soul. It also doesn't hurt that the house I house-sit is nestled in several acres of trees, grass and flowers.
During those little morning and evening moments, I never fail to raise my eyes heavenward from whence my salvation comes. It fills me with His presence and infuses me with love for my Creator and tender regard for His children.
But, what is this that stands in the Eastern sky so stark, so unexpected, so out-of-place; large and imposing? Certainly nothing I had visually encountered before this morning.
Several columns of cloud rose up, resembling the shape of a tornado. They were such a realistic replica that it would have been frightening had I not quickly reminded myself that we don't live in tornado country. I knew they were meaningful, but for the first time, God did not say what they represented right away.
Since it was early spring and rather cool, I went inside by the fireplace to contemplate what I had just seen. What could these columns possibly mean?
"You didn't count them."
What?
"You didn't count them," Jesus repeated.
I didn't count the pillars did I? I said. And since He brought that to mind, it must be important.
I grabbed a bag of garbage that was waiting to be taken out to the trash bins and headed outside. Looking up I wondered if the formations would still be there. The winds would surely have disfigured those stately columns by now. But although they were altered to some degree, there were still quite clearly four tornado-shaped pillars of clouds.
So there are four of them. Okay. I waited for some sort of response, but nothing more was said about it at that time. A little later in the day, I drove to town and contemplated the mystery in the sky. Suddenly the significance of the four pillars hit me with confidence.
The four winds of strife.
Of course, the four winds of strife, what else would they be?
Revelation 7:1: "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree."
Revelation 7:2 goes on to say, "Then I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and the sea. 'Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.'"
We are beginning to realize the truth of what has been foretold. Perilous times are before us as we see the growing number of incidents where nature seems out of control. Heaving and convulsing; groaning as if in labor.
Nature is not alone in visible signs of Jesus' return, but humanity's war against itself tells us more than we would like to know of our condition. I don't need to reiterate what they are, we all see and hear.
The interesting thing that I noticed about the scripture in Revelation 7:1 is that the warning was addressed to believers as opposed to non-believers. Because it was the believers that were not prepared for the sealing. That seems to indicate today's truth, that there are still many people in the church that are not ready. Am I one of those?
copyright 7/9/2015
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