SHAKE IT UP!

The only shaking we should be doing is for Jesus—shaking the unstable faith of others with His Word and the power of His Spirit. He causes our lives to m-o-v-e in His direction when we allow it.

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVES        by Sally Bair

Life’s earthquakes

Living in the Midwest as I do, I don’t often think about earthquakes. If not for those in Alaska, in fact, I would have moved to the city of Homer at one time, because my son lives there. When my family and I visited there once and experienced an earthquake measuring 5.5 on the Richter scale, it clinched my decision not to move there.

Alaska has had its share of big ones, like the devastating earthquake of 1964, which measured over nine points on the Richter scale. It dropped the level of the Homer Spit by seven feet. The famous Homer Spit is a narrow strip of land nearly five miles long that extends out into Katchemak Bay. It's a natural harbor for hundreds of small and large boats, including my son’s commercial fishing vessel.

But the Spit has changed drastically since that 1964 Good Friday earthquake. Previously, the Spit held many trees and houses and beautiful greenery along its length. (The local museum exhibits pictures of its former lush scenery.)  In a matter of minutes, all the trees and brush disappeared, as well as some houses and much of the land itself. Mountains and hills in the Homer area literally moved.

How scary that event must have been for the local residents! But we all face other kinds of scary events—if not natural, then physical or emotional. Perhaps many of us feel as if we're living on an unstable foundation. Most any kind of adversity can bring heart-dropping sensations and can even test our faith in God. However, He can give us the stability we need when such things happen. No other god on earth or below or above can promise us the rock-solid, unmovable foundation that God the Almighty and His Son Jesus Christ can give. His holy Word professes that. A simple act of faith can give that assurance.

Isaiah 54:10 quotes God thus: "Though the mountains be shaken and the hills removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken." What a promise! It is truly one we can cling to whenever we find ourselves dropping seven feet down the slippery slope of reality as did the land on the Homer Spit.

Lord, help us always to remember that there is nothing or no-one who can give us the sure, steady, immovable foundation of love and security that You can give. We thank You for Your unfailing love that will never be shaken. In Jesus' name, amen.