GREAT THINGS ENTERPRISE
CLAUDE BLACK
Mark 4:36
Earthquakes and Fires
As I write this, reporters are describing the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that hit Myanmar and surrounding countries on the Indochinese Peninsula on Friday, March 28, 2025. The death toll and injuries continue to rise, and the destruction is massive. One scene showed the collapse of a high-rise building that was under construction in the city of Mandalay.
In South Carolina, wildfires continue to scorch huge areas and burn any building that stands in their way. Reporters interviewed one man standing before his burned home. Despite helicopters dropping water on them, the flames ultimately reached his buildings and destroyed them.
These are a few examples of crises that many people face daily—negative health reports, untimely deaths, auto accidents, financial ruin, family crises, organizational failures, and job losses, just to cite a few other examples.
St. Mark described such an event: “And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves were breaking over into the boat, so that the boat was already filling up.” (4:37) The people in this account began well; they were doing an ordinary thing, crossing the lake; they were engaged in normal activity—some of them were fishermen accustomed to life on the lake, and they had with them Jesus, the Messiah.
The crises of life spare no person, not even the Messiah. The Tower of Siloam fell, killing 18 people—people likely on their way to doing normal, routine chores. The crisis came regardless of their devoutness, according to Jesus. (Luke 13:3-5) The powerful storm came to the boat in which Jesus was a passenger, the earthquake came to people engaged in normal chores, and the fires came without regard to personal standing. All these events are reminders of existential uncertainties and the importance of spiritual certainty.
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