Solutions February 2017 | Page 55

I live in California. Earthquakes are common talk. We wonder when“ the big one” will hit. Earthquake preparedness is a must: schools participate in earthquake drills, companies host earthquake preparedness seminars, and individuals prepare earthquake survival kits. We try to be as prepared as we can for the inevitable. But when a 3.5 quake rattled our peaceful community, I was caught off guard.
It happened early in the morning. I was in my bedroom making my bed, and suddenly the floor underneath my feet shifted down, like an elevator’ s sudden descent. I felt the downward motion and toppled sideways as my stomach did a flip. Around me, vases and books tumbled off shelves; pictures loosed from hooks, jumped off the wall. In an attempt to find stability, I slid down the side of my bed skirt, my rear end willingly hitting the floor. Now seated with legs crossed, with both hands I grabbed the nap of the shag carpet and held on for my life until the shaking stopped.
Maybe you’ ve never been in an earthquake, yet we’ ve all been in uncomfortable and unstable places more often than we’ d like. I call these life-quakes. When we feel unsure in relationships, job, or finances, we face life-quakes that rattle our trust in God’ s stability. We wonder why, if God really loves us, He let the shaking start and why He doesn’ t make it stop. Circumstances make us feel like our comfortable little world is rocked, turned topsyturvy, even dismantled. It is essential for us if we want to function in God’ s victory to remember Who is our foundation.
The name of God, Zur, means God our Rock. God wants us to hold onto His promises and stand firm in the power of His stable presence. We begin with the renewing our mind, which comes by reading His word, marinating in His promises, and standing on the solid ground God provides when we own up to our authority in Christ and rise up in faith.
Wikipedia defines rock as the solid mineral material forming part of the surface of the earth and other similar planets, exposed on the surface or underlying the soil or oceans. But the term rock is also used in similes and metaphors to refer to someone or something that is extremely strong, reliable, or hard.
Life-quakes hit when we least expect them. Since these times of being all shook up are part of life, and we know these inevitable quakes are coming, let’ s make a choice now to practice a little lifequake preparedness. Let’ s prepare for the big one and the small ones, too. When the life-quake hits, we will be able to find stable ground again. An added blessing is while we let God help us assimilate ourselves, we can also help others in the midst of their personal life-quakes.
First, we must implement the reaction of praising God and thanking God before He sends the solution and the shaking stops. God’ s nature is a firm foundation, so we can expect His consistent response as Zur – God Our Rock. When we trust Him, we anticipate His best is on the way to help us find our firm footing
SMG Solutions 55