“And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”

                                                      -Luke 21:11

By now I’m sure you’ve all seen the news headlines of the enormous earthquake in Japan. It topped the Richter Scale at 8.9 which is about as big as they get, and nearly 3,000 have already been confirmed dead with many still missing. This was no ordinary earthquake and shouldn’t be treated like one. Millions (think about that number for a minute) are in need of food, water, and other basic essentials  most of us have never had to live a day without. Meanwhile, with no telephone lines or internet access, a large part of them still have to worry about whether or not their friends and family made it through alive. They are going through the darkest moments of their life and looking to us for help.

So what do we do?

First of all, pray….right now. Don’t wait until you’re done reading this post and give yourself the opportunity to forget; stop right where you are and pray. Pray for their broken homes and broken hearts. Pray for those in charge of relief efforts and that they would do their job as efficiently as possible. Pray for those mourning the loss of their parents, their children, and their best friends. Those are wounds the Red Cross simply can’t fix.

Secondly, if God has blessed you with more than you honestly need, let me urge you to seriously consider getting involved tangibly (see II Corinthians 8:14). I know we tend to be skeptical of charities and other organizations that ask for our hard-earned cash, but we can’t spend all of our time questioning their integrity while losing ours in the process. There are many honest and faith-based organizations that truly care about meeting the needs of the broken and will not misuse your donation. I’m sure none of us would hesitate to give if it was our family that was starving to death.

“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.”

                                                       -James 2:17

This tragedy is the perfect opportunity to prove the faith we’re so quick to profess. Yes, the Lord said He is a father to the fatherless and a defender of the poor (Psalm 10:14; Deuteronomy 24:15); but it is only through His body that His light can shine in this world (I Corinthians 12:27; Matthew 5:14). We can’t sit back and wait for someone else to move when God is calling us to.