What's the World's Temperature? The Frog That Doesn't Escape a Boiling Pot of Water

There is an old legend about a frog that remains sitting in a boiling pot of heated water until it dies even though it could easily escape at any time, as it was placed there when the water was cold and, though the temperature of the water slowly rises with more and more heat, it doesn't recognise the heating point at which it needs to leave. I thought this was a good analogy for the world we live in today, as I have heard many people speak of the coming tribulation (time of trouble), as if it is still at some far off point. Then I look around me and I wonder if we are already in tribulation. For example, I read an article today that said 260,000 people died in the famine in Somalia between 2010 and 2012. This figure surpassed the figure of 220,000 people who died during famine there in 1992. That is almost half a million people! In some areas of Somalia, this meant that an estimated 4.6% of the population died during the recent famine, which is shocking, especially considering the previous famine too, as well as the fact that many more people would have been seriously starving even though they did not reach the point of death. This is only one example of a country in famine, and other areas of Africa have been hit by famine too in the last few decades. Would these people say we are in tribulation? I am sure they would! I haven't researched the numbers, but look around at the world and what do you see? Many countries have immense shanty towns. Economies are not big enough to feed their burgeoning population of poor. The global financial crisis is not past and many countries are experiencing increasing financial troubles and deepening job woes. In a previous article I discussed tipping point, and how much of the problems around us may be unseen, spreading far and wide, before they surface (Tipping Point: What's Below the Iceberg?). Genocide of hundreds of thousands and even millions of people has occurred during the last century, as one thinks of the Jewish holocaust or genocide in Rwanda in 1994, and I have mentioned that South Africa is on Genocide Watch's list as a potential country of concern. Crime is spiralling out of control in many countries, and was a reason we left South Africa, and life is quickly forfeit to criminals there. There have been terrible wars the last century and hopefully we will be spared future wars. Vast tracts of tropical forests have been cleared for logging. Dead animals have been found by their thousands in rivers, perhaps in some cases a sign of ecosystems out of balance, and in others a sign of industrial poisoning. Many animal species that were once common are on the brink of extinction, a point of no return, for example, the African lion and the tiger. I would never have imagined that I would think a lion or a tiger would go extinct in my life time. This seems impossible, as these animals seem so well known and are icons, but as I wrote in blog article Caged But Not Tamed yet this very scenario may be happening.

How hot do we expect this boiling pot of the world to become before we say, we have reached tribulation? I hope it's not going to get worse because I see many problems in this world already! Let's each play our part so we can make positive changes to the world for the better and allow waves of hope to spread. And keep praying! I have seen God do some awesome work and I know He can turn tides.