Shaken but held secure

Japan, Christchurch, Libya, Afghanistan, and many other things in day-to-day life—how do I see them all? I hear the news of people in Japan desperate to hear from loved ones; others going back to their devastated home towns to search through what? There is only rubble and wreckage of their homes and towns.

I hear their cries of despair and see the wild look in their eyes. They are so bewildered. What was so familiar is now so unfamiliar.

To see neighbours and family washed back up on the shores is beyond comprehending. Fishing villages destroyed, livelihoods tossed around like flotsam and jetsam, no I must be humble.

“Mother Nature has dealt a cruel blow,” the Prime Minister of my country has said.

Who is Mother Nature? How have we made her angry?

My mind goes over and under and roundabout looking in every crevice and hidey hole to find a valid reason. Nothing satisfies.

A doctor in Libya has lost his son in the cruel fighting. He was going to seek revenge for his son’s death. His doctor friends have told him it will not work. So now he is treating the injured. Do you understand?

I see the people of Israel, centuries ago, placing the blood over the doorposts in obedience to God. I see them fleeing Egypt pursued by their enemy. Chariot wheels scraping on the dirt, voices shouting, death imminent; but God opens a way through the Red Sea.  They cross on dry land; the Egyptians race through the dry too, only to see a great wall of water engulf them. Were they all washed up on the shore? Did any loved ones look for them?

I see the Israelites look back. Did they gloat or did they find themselves on their knees on Holy, Holy Ground? They were in the midst of salvation, of redemption, of the Glory of God.

I see Jesus delivered up to be tried by the Romans; gloated over and ridiculed by the people. He did not need to answer any taunt. He did not need to plead innocence even though he was. His own rights were not in view. He is looking way back into history before the Egyptians were destroyed; he is looking far into history long after the disasters of 2011. He is looking into the heart of his Father and seeing such great love that encompasses every disaster, every evil, every anger, and every hatred. The cruel mob crucified him. His arms were outstretched on a cross, actually nailed there; but they were freely outstretched to encompass all, gathering us into himself so that our evil could be burned up in his holy love. We will die in him, yet we will live in him.

Creation too felt the great weight of human evil. The sky darkened, the sun was blackened, the earth shook, and there was such a deathly quietness. Animals and birds were in hiding as creation sensesd the weight of sin and destruction.

Creation has always felt the weight of man’s evil. 

We are told that “creation was subjected to futility not of its own will but by the will of him who subjected it in hope.” So the Father actually knows what he is doing? Yes! All of creation, humanity included, will come to fullness of life, to the glorious goal that has been prepared at the beginning, even before time.

I need search no more crevices or dusty holes. The Creator knows what he is doing and he is Holy Love. No disaster or angry word or hatred is out of his control. Everything has been taken into account. I do need to believe him. I need to open my hands to receive all that he gives—not all that I think is appropriate.

I must not ramble, I must think deeply and truly. I need all of God to teach me.

Did he not say that we must be grateful to receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken? Obviously things can be shaken. We are witnessing this in 2011, both for the created things and in people’s lives. Huge tsunamis and earth quakes shatter the human hearts and we will not see the outstretched arms of the Saviour who has taken all of this and given us himself. We clench our fists at God and demand justice. Our hearts are hardened and we will not receive. Are not his arms ever stretched wide to give and to gather us into the safe heart? Are not his eyes full of tender mercy saying, “ Come and drink and rest”?

You know, Christ has risen, and evil has been defeated. The Father is satisfied that Holy love has consumed all that can be shaken.

So in the present shaking of this world I am in a kingdom that cannot be shaken. I know I am loved and kept safe by my Saviour and true Father.

“Dear Spirit, burn these things into our hearts.”

I am thankful today for:

74.  Life held by the Father.

75.  Those over the years who have shared the Word with me.

76.  A mind to think.

77.  People to share my thoughts with.

78.  Meaning in the seemingly meaningless.

79.  Floundering, but not sinking.

80.  The gift of a heart softened by love.

81.  Knowing certainty  in the midst of uncertainty.

I am linking with  Ann at A Holy Experience