Asian Tsunami 2004 Wikipedia.org: "The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, known by the scientific community as the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, was an undersea earthquake that occurred at 00:58:53 UTC (07:58:53 local time) December 26, 2004, with an epicenter off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The earthquake triggered a series of devastating tsunamis that spread throughout the Indian Ocean, killing large numbers of people and inundating coastal communities across South and Southeast Asia, including parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand. Although initial estimates put the worldwide death toll at over 275,000 with thousands of others missing, recent analysis compiled lists a total of 229,866 persons lost, including 186,983 dead and 42,883 missing." When the tsunami striked during Christmas time in year 2004, I thought where was God? I was confused, sad, and even doubted if he exist, or if he really care? Why, why, why... flooded my mind. After that I watched Larry King's interview with religious leaders on CNN, discussing the tsunami issue. I thought the answer would be revealed, but very much to my disappointment, no solid answer was given. It was the standard; "Satan created it, God allows it....." Then soon after that, Pope John Paul II passed away, and the church ceremony was telecasted live through CNN to the whole world, for almost entire day. The Lord's Prayer was cited many times. On that same day, the answer striked me. I realized that God did allow the tsunami to happen, but soon after that his message was preached to the whole world, first on Larry King Live, then on John Paul's funeral. The message was clear, we must believe in Christ (i.e. forgive us our trepasses) so that we can receive the salvation promised by God. To God, nothing is more important than the salvation he has prepared for us. He preached at the time when the world was confused, when the world thought there was no God, when the world did not feel his presence. He did that because that's the condition of receiving the salvation, we believe by faith alone, i.e. without seeing the presence of God. So, God's "hidden nature" and our salvation work together, one cannot exist without the other. Through doubts, we seek him, through confusions, we understand him, and through our soften heart, salvation we receive. We must trust God at times of trouble - to him, our salvation is far more important than showing his glory. end...