God spoke to the nation through the prophet in Jeremiah 7:28: "This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction: truth is perished and is cut off from their mouth."
Question: Was the earthquake north of San Francisco a warning from God's gracious hand for California to repent? If we do not repent, could something worse follow?
Men, of a certainty, nothing is too hard for God. God can save us from judgment and discipline if He in His sovereign wisdom believes it is the right thing to do at this time of our history. One thing for sure is that God is very patient, not willing that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9).
Yet there comes a time when even God's patience runs out. The history of Israel bears testimony to his fact, that after many warnings over many years, God's patience ran out and judgment, always as a form of loving discipline, had to be given. All that happened to Israel, both good and bad, was not only for their own sakes, but a lesson to all nations throughout all history (Romans 15:4 and 1 Corinthians 10:11, 12).
I do not subscribe to those who believe that national catastrophes have nothing to do with God. Those who believe that God is only in the good times and can only bless and never bring discipline or judgment have never read the Bible with an open mind. But who wants to talk about bad times and coming judgment? Most certainly I would rather be a bearer of good tidings than of bad ones, and yet someone has to face the facts that if judgment is to be averted, we must repent. That's for sure!
God will never ever despise a repentant, contrite heart that cries for forgiveness. We must ask ourselves the question: Has our nation's heart become too hard to repent? I earnestly pray that it has not reached that point. Nineveh averted judgment through repentance even though Jonah was not happy about it.
Please read the whole passage of Jeremiah 7:23-28.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell