Fire and Billows of Smoke

God has flicked his little finger and the world has been thrown into chaos! As I write these words the United Kingdom and much of Europe is entering its third day as a ‘no-fly zone’. A minor volcano has erupted in Iceland and thrown millions of tons of fine ash into the atmosphere. This silica ash turns to liquid glass in the heat of a jet engine, seizing the engine and making it incredibly dangerous for jet aeroplanes. No airline would knowingly take a plane through such a cloud. The effects would be catastrophic.

So the world – or, at least, Northern Europe which is covered by this almost invisible cloud of fine ash – has been brought to a humiliating stand-still, costing the airlines alone over 150 million pounds per day. As the Daily Mail said, ‘Even a modest rumbling in the underworld is enough to throw a gigantic spanner into the works of modern life!’ Mount Laki, a much larger volcano in Iceland erupted in 1783. According to a recent Cambridge University study, the after effects of this eruption killed over 10,000 people in England alone. If Laki were to erupt today, flying would be banned in the whole of the Northern Hemisphere, not just for a few days, but for months, bringing the whole world to its knees.

I wonder what the Apostle Peter thought about the words of our Scripture for today, which he quoted from the prophet Joel on the Day of Pentecost? The days he was talking about, the last days, are the days we are living in. How do you interpret the heavenly signs and wonders, including ‘fire and billows of smoke’? The pictures of the erupting volcano can only be described with these exact words – fire and billows of smoke are throwing the ash thousands of feet into the atmosphere. Insurance companies are excusing themselves from paying out on travel policies as this is declared by them to be ‘an Act of God’!

As I read how the world is sensibly not flying through the ash cloud because of the great danger. The Lord turned me to our Scripture and then spoke to my spirit a lesson that I will never forget. This is what I sensed the Lord saying:

Because of the danger to aircraft and the life of passengers and crew, no-one would even consider flying through such a dangerous cloud. But every day the people of the world are flying through clouds of spiritual darkness, immorality and sinful lifestyles, without any thought whatsoever as to the damage it might be causing them. The volcanic ash will only seize the engine of an aeroplane, the spiritual cloud of darkness will bring down to destruction the souls of men. The eyes of the world have been blinded, by the god of this world, to the consequences of living in rebellion to the living God, and not walking in His ways.

I sensed the weeping of the Heavenly Father as He looked at a world that listens to the warning messages from the scientists and weathermen, but ignores the messages that were given to the world by His only Son and the prophets of God. I found myself praying that in these days there will be those who see what is happening and start to ask the right questions. And that when they read of the ‘fire and billows of smoke’, that have brought nations to their knees, they will turn to the God who answers the cry of our heart when, in humility, we fall to our knees in repentance.

Prayer: Lord, during these awesome days, I pray there will be many who will see the signs in the sky, turn to You in their hearts and begin to cry out to You for answers to the issues and problems of their lives. Help me, Lord, to always remember how dangerous it is to ‘fly’ through clouds of sin, knowing that to do so seizes the engine of my soul, and prevents me from fulfilling my destiny. I come to you afresh today in repentance and ask you to forgive me for all my sins. In Jesus’ name, Amen.