A WHOLE LOT OF SHAKING GOING ON

Our daughter thought we were playing a trick on her, shaking her bed, until she realized that other bedroom items were swaying as well.

Down the hall, our bed was shaking too, but we thought it was our golden retriever getting stuck under it again, trying to shake his way loose—until both dogs were on the bed and the telling shaking continued a while longer.

We walked down to the corner grocery and saw food cans strewn through the aisles. 

Later that day I was giving a talk at a resort when suddenly I noticed the carpet-adorned floor roll before me, like when you press on a waterbed and see its contents shift.

Yes, it was an earthquake—mild as they go, about 3.5 at the New York/Vermont border.  We felt it in northern New Hampshire.  I can’t even begin to imagine what it’s like closer to an epicenter.

In addition to shattered nerves and a nasty headache throughout the day, I was amazed to find my balance askew, as though I was trying to walk upon the deck of a moving ship.  Californians may be more used to it, but the Midwestern-born are trembler-challenged.

What does all this have to do with peace?  Everything.

Without trusting God to deliver you, you are subject to every shaking that goes on.  When the symbolic earth beneath your feet begins to move, you will be shaken to the core—unless you are on the Rock.  Your very sustenance may be under attack, but relationship with the Lord yields provision in diverse ways and diverse channels as needed.  When your “earth” shakes, your head may ache, your nerves may frazzle, and your walk may indeed be out of balance.  The angst that you find yourself in, though, will reverse when you reverse course, and walk with (instead of run from) Him.

b(Les)sings

Psalm 60

King James Version (KJV)

 ¹O God, thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered us, thou hast been displeased; O turn thyself to us again.
 ²Thou hast made the earth to tremble; thou hast broken it: heal the breaches thereof; for it shaketh.
 ³Thou hast shewed thy people hard things: thou hast made us to drink the wine of astonishment.
 ⁴Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah.
 ⁵That thy beloved may be delivered; save with thy right hand, and hear me.
 ⁶God hath spoken in his holiness; I will rejoice, I will divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
 ⁷Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the strength of mine head; Judah is my lawgiver;
 ⁸Moab is my washpot; over Edom will I cast out my shoe: Philistia, triumph thou because of me.
 ⁹Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom?
 ¹⁰Wilt not thou, O God, which hadst cast us off? and thou, O God, which didst not go out with our armies?
 ¹¹Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
 ¹²Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.