Unshakeable

My mom and dad both had different tactics to wake my siblings and I up in the morning for school. My mom would gently wake us up with a greeting. My dad would normally give us a gentle shake. On occasion one of my siblings, or me, would be tasked to wake the others up. If that was the case we’d get an earth rattling shake to ensure we woke up in time for school. It was not always a pleasant way to wake up, but it was effective.

I think every now and then God wants to shake us up. Once in a while I can tell that God is testing the foundations of my faith, just to make sure that they are strong. Like any good house, our faith should be built on something of substance, something hard and strong. If our faith is built on nothing, then when God tests us, our faith crumbles.

God uses these moments to reveal something about Himself to us. This something may be how loving He is, or it could be a reminder about His mercy and grace. Whatever the reason, I find it comforting to know that God is in control of the earthquake in my faith. The reason is normally something personal and relates to each of us based on where we are in our walk with God. We don’t go through life without God in control, without God there to comfort us in times of need. We experience a life knowing God is with us through every tremor in our faith and every calm moment.

Jesus never said that we would have an easy life as Christians. In fact, He said quite the opposite. However, we can take comfort in the fact that He understands what we are going through. Jesus experienced all kinds of sorrow and pain, as well as happiness and joy when He walked this earth two millennia ago.

Whenever I feel God shake me at my foundations it always takes me a while to restore my faith, to build it back up again, but it gets there. It may take weeks, or months, sometimes it takes years. I’ve learned over time to be patient with these things, not to rush to find an answer. God doesn’t see you any different because your faith has been shaken. He still loves you and wants you to know you aren’t going through this alone. Draw close to God; He doesn’t want you to run away, but run into His open arms and embrace Him.

“We often don’t always know why things happen to us and others in a given circumstance, but we know why we trust God who does know why.” – Dave Brown

Stay awesome everyone.

M