Earthquake!

Earthquake!

Californians are smiling at us here in the Northeast United States. A 5.9 quake hit on Tuesday just before 2 in the afternoon. We emptied out of buildings, clogged phone lines, and literally got ‘all shook up!’  I’ll own up to my fear. When the pictures on my office walls started tapping, the building groaned with stress, and my chair moved without any hand touching it, it was unlike anything I have ever experienced. The ‘solid ground’ was jelly for a few seconds. That’s frightening. Interestingly, several of my Christian friends asked if this strange experience was a harbinger of the ‘last days.’ My secretary called her elderly Italian grandmother who lapsed into her native tongue speaking of the ‘apocalisse.’

The strangely awesome experience speaks to me about my small place in the world. It shook me free, yet again, from my illusions of control. It was my first earthquake, but certainly not the first shaking of my world. Periodically, things happen that are beyond my ability to manage and I hear the voice of the Spirit say, “I am God and you are not.”  The prophet boldly declares, "The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel." (Joel 3:16, KJV)

Disciple, is your hope resting squarely on the immoveable Rock of our salvation?  

Is His Word the truth around which you make your daily choices?

We loudly sing, “On Christ the solid Rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand,” but live as though life will go on forever, building our houses on the sandy soil of this world. We gather treasure, scurry about working feverishly, anxiously fretting about our place in this world. I am guilty as charged!  Too often my work as a Pastor is much more about managing the business of a religious organization than it is about shepherding the flock of God. I am way too concerned about how many are in the pew and how much is in the offering plate. When those metrics are not reaching expectations, my first impulse is to re-double my efforts, to work harder than I already do, as if making a bigger cloud of dust will somehow assure my ‘success’ in life.  Then comes the earthquake.

10 minutes after the ‘quake, I walked through the sanctuary and realized that if the earth had shaken just a bit harder or for a few more seconds, the building I so carefully tend probably would have crumbled! Later, in my prayerful reflection, it became clearer to me that if the American economy collapses, and it is fragile needing only a tremor or two to come tumbling down, the enterprise I lead will lose the funds I so carefully manage. “The Lord will be the HOPE of His people!” 

I renew my hope in Him. May my life be defined, not by what I own, who I know, or what I have done. My prayer is to be His servant, so that no matter the scale of the ‘quake I stand secure in eternal hope.  Here’s a word from the Word. Lord, challenge and comfort us with Your Truth. Amen.

"For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power." (1 Corinthians 15:22-24, NIV)  "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15:58, NIV)

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His oath, His covenant, His blood,

Support me in the whelming flood.

When all around my soul gives way,

He then is all my Hope and Stay.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand.

The Solid Rock

Mote, Edward / Bradbury, William B.

© Public Domain