We tease about couples who bicker with each other, saying, “She married him. She got what’s coming to her.”
Or, when our unfair boss is sacked, we say the same. “He got what he deserved.” And oh, it feels so good to whisper those words to anyone who will listen.
Then, when the lottery is announced, we hold our tickets, and we groan, “When will I get what I deserve? I want to be on the lottery’s payout plan!”
Do we really want what we deserve? It might not be the $50 million jackpot we hope for. Instead, God might mete out what we really have coming to us.
We might really get what we deserve.
In Numbers 16, Korah and a number of other men rose up before Moses and rebelled against the Lord. In Verse 30, we read of the results:
“But if the Lord creates something new, and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that belongs to them, and they go down alive into Sheol, then you shall know that these men have despised the Lord.”
And that’s exactly what happened. They were swallowed up in the ground, and the fact is this was no normal earthquake. The Word says the ground closed up after them as if they never were.
They got what they deserved.
In Revelation 11, a great calamity is predicted to come upon the enemies of the Lord. In Verse 13 we read:
“And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
It took the fist of the Lord taking seven thousand people in the earthquake before the rest gave glory to the God of heaven.
They got what was coming to them.
In Acts 16, Paul and Silas find themselves in prison. They are singing hymns to God and praying in loud voices. Verse 26 tells us:
“…and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.”
Even in their calamity, Paul and Silas put God first, and his earthquake released them from their prison bonds.
That got what they deserved.
In Matthew 28, Jesus has been crucified, and he is buried in a tomb. Verse 2 tells us:
“And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.”
Guess what he allowed to come out? It was Jesus, the Son of God, resurrected from the dead, and returned to bring us the salvation of the cross and eternal life in his name forevermore!
God gave us exactly what was coming to us.
If we come to Jesus and repent of our sins, we get what we deserve. We get Jesus. It’s all part of God’s generous payout plan.
The earthquake is unimportant. It’s what we get out of it that makes us shine for Jesus.
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