SUDDENLY

Frank Sinatra is more remembered by many for his silky, love ballads than for his many movie roles. Yes! In his lifetime, Mr. Sinatra appeared in not less than fifty – six (56) films, including his number one, “From Here to Eternity” (1953], with Burt Lancaster and Donna Reed. And I really doubt if many people still remember or have ever even seen Frank Sinatra in “Suddenly” (1954), in which he plays the role of John Baron, a psychopathic assassin. Don’t feel bad if you have never seen “Suddenly”, it happens to be just one of those forgotten Sinatra classics that now runs once or maybe twice a year on The TCM (Turner Classic Movies) Channel. 
In “Suddenly”, John Baron (Sinatra) leads a team of hired assassins to Suddenly, a sleepy little town in California, on a mission to assassinate the President of the United States, as the President’s campaign train makes a brief stop at the town’s train station. As the camera rolls in on the opening shot, Sheriff Todd Shaw (Sterling Hayden) revealed to a transient that the name of the town was a “hold back from the old days” when things used to happened in this town, suddenly. And guess what? It appears that the sheriff’s patrol car had broken down suddenly.
And I am sure you want to know what the connection is between the title of a 1954 film starring one of the greatest legends of American music and that of a Christian article in an online Christian magazine? The word "sudden" implies the abrupt and the unexpected. And God never does anything unintended nor unexpected. His actions are always intended and are always declared, even for many generations before they actually happen, but sadly enough were never anticipated. Do you know that a false sense of security and the lack of anticipation are some of the reasons why it would seem that the consequences of sin often have sudden impacts and far reaching outcomes. 

 Just think about this. About 150 years prior to destroying the first world with water, God declared “I will wipe off the face of the earth these humans that I created. I will wipe out not only humans, but also domestic animals, crawling animals, and birds. I am sorry that I made them” (Genesis 6: 7). And “In the days before the flood, people were eating, drinking, and getting married until the day that Noah went into the Ark. They were not aware of what was happening until the flood came and swept all of them away” [Matthew 24: 38, 39]. And just seven days before disaster struck, the Lord declared again, “In seven days I will send rain to the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. I will wipe off the face of the earth every living creature that I have made” (Genesis 7:4). And it did happened "seven days later the flood overwhelmed the earth" [Genesis 7: 10]. The coming of the flood in itself was not sudden but its impact on the entire world was sudden and had a far more reaching outcome. Then what about “That is how it will be when the son of man comes again”? Well, that simply means people have not really changed since the time of the flood. People were unprepared then and are still unprepared now, and would still be unprepared even if the Lord returns tomorrow.

Though the flood was devastating enough, yet it happens not to be the most calamitous event in world history. The Fall of Man is the most calamitous event in the history of the world. And yet the Fall of Man was not really a sudden event but one with a sudden and far more reaching impact than any other [Genesis 2: 16, 17]. I can also think of at least four reasons why it appears that calamities always overtake us suddenly – (1) disregard for divine instruction, (2) drawing from the shallow bank of human wisdom rather than from the deep treasury of heavenly wisdom, (3) unbelief, and from (4) complacency and lack of anticipation wrapped up in a false sense of security. All four factors figured into the statement, "Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till you are destroyed; because you listened not to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded you: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. Because you served not the Lord your God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things; Therefore you will serve your enemies which the Lord shall send against you, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon your neck, until he has destroyed you" [Deuteronomy 28: 45-48].
Also check this out! “From the beginning I revealed to you what would happen. These words came out of my mouth, and I made them known. Suddenly, I acted, and they happened” (Isaiah 48: 3). It is not in the fact that disasters overtake people suddenly but in the truth that people lack adequate preparation or anticipation for that which is the inevitable.   

Some things in life happen suddenly but the things that have implications for eternity do not happen suddenly. For example, Jesus was born in the fullness of God’s time rather than suddenly [Galatians 4: 4]. The most important and serious things in life really do not happen suddenly. There are always many warning signs along the way. And there is also that old English idiom, “to be forewarned is to be forearmed.” This simply means that advance warning always provides a great advantage just for knowing what is heading your way.

Now let us take a trip back in time to the Town of Suddenly, California where things are now happening so slowly that the town council is suggesting changing the name to the Town of Gradually. Now for the rest of the story. One, John Baron and his henchmen made a mortal error in commandeering the home of a retired FBI agent and two, they never got the chance to assassinate the President of the United States as the presidential train did not even stop in the Town of Suddenly.

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” [1 Thessalonians 4: 16, 17]. This event is the grand finale and the mother of all events. But certainly not suddenly, at least not for those that are on the look out. And I hope you will not lose any sleep still trying to figure out the connection between an article in an online Christian magazine and the title of a forgotten 1954 film by one of America's greatest legends of music. It is really not as complicated as one would think. The title of the film inspired the article and subsequently the title is an antithesis to the idea that God does not do things suddenly. And as I always do, I pray that you discover life the way God intends.

K. George Olubodun