When the worst tsunami in generations hit Southeast Asia the day after Christmas in 2004, “60 Minutes” discovered a group of people that had amazingly survived the catastrophe. The Moken people live off the coast of Thailand and they survived because, as “60 Minutes” reported, “they knew it was coming.” “It was their intimacy with the sea that saved them.”
The report went on to state that by living on the sea, “They know the moods and motion better than any marine biologist.” Children there learn to swim before they can walk. “Underwater, they can see twice as clearly as the rest of us and, by lowering their heart rate, can stay underwater twice as long.” Again, these abilities and their relationship with the sea enabled them to be prepared for the tsunami that they knew was coming.
I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t a lesson in this story for the rest of us. The world seems as though it has gone bonkers. Wars and rumors of wars, hate and heart-breaking divisions among people, and the discarding of Godly morals and values have stunned many and frightened many more. But are these things really a surprise?
Some just don’t want to think about it – it’s just too overwhelming. But I would suggest that if we have the kind of intimacy with our Creator as the Moken people do with the sea, we would not be surprised but rather would “know that it was coming.” And we would be prepared for it. The national news broadcast or the newspaper or the internet can report what has taken place but God’s Word can tell us why things have happened and fit the puzzle pieces together. Perhaps we need to choose wisely when it comes to our source for life-changing information. Just a thought.