This past Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 11:42 am, a magnitude 5.4 earthquake occurred on a fault 8 miles below the surface of Chino Hills, California. The epicenter is only 5 miles north of where I live, so the cities of Placentia (where I live), Brea, and Yorba Linda (where the church is) were pretty much at ground zero. The experts say that the Chino Hills earthquake was caused by thrust and sinistral strike-slip faulting. The experts aside, what it felt like was a big hand slamming into the side of the house!Everything in our house that was on a north or south facing wall, and wasn’t bolted down, went flying. Shelves and cupboards emptied themselves, drawers opened, pictures tilted or fell, and bookcases went down. I don’t know if your bookcases are anything like ours, but our bookcases are pretty full of stuff… er, were pretty full of stuff. When they topple over, they pretty much avalanche down to the floor. Bookcases with doors on them did little to keep the contents from spilling across the room. What a mess! We are still going through it all.
The earth was in upheaval for a few seconds, but our lives have been in upheaval for days. People look at the photographs of the state our house is in and say: “How terrible.” I look at the situation and say: “Look how God has blessed us!”
When the earthquake occurred, my wife Patti was in Fullerton and I was in Irvine. We experienced the quake as a moderate “jolt” or “bump.” My daughter Jennifer, and our grandson Jeffrey (who is not quite a year old) were in the car… running errands. None of us were at home. None of us were injured by flying encyclopedias, toppling bookcases, or breaking glass. Look how God has blessed us!
Sure, cleanup is a chore, but that has proven to be a blessing, too. As we sift through the wreckage on the floor, we comment: “Why had I been holding on to this thing?” Many useless things that were weighing us down, now broken by upheaval, are now more easily cast into the trash. Useful things, once lost at the back of a shelf or cabinet, are rediscovered. On the very top on one pile in my office, I found a $300 airline voucher I thought was lost forever. Look how God has blessed us!
Look at the great heroes of the Bible: often, they were closest to God during the times of greatest upheaval. When God rocks your world, are you looking to Him? Do you curse your misfortune, or do you see the opportunities God is shaking loose for you? “Here I am, Lord! Shake me loose from sin and apathy. Anchor me to the rock of your salvation. Cause an upheaval in my soul that delights in your Holy Spirit. Let me reflect your power, your peace, and your love to a lost and broken world… in Jesus’ name.”
Your brother in Christ, Dave
"Anchor me to the rock of your salvation. Cause an upheaval in my soul that delights in your Holy Spirit. "
ReplyDeleteIt has been nine months now since my beloved Diehl died and went Home. In the meantime, I have found great comfort in a song paraphrase of Psalm 61. The first few verses of the Psalm: Hear my cry, O God; attend unto my prayer. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter for me, and a strong tower from the enemy.
And the paraphrase, an old song:
In season of grief,
to my Lord I repair
when my heart is o'erwhelmed
with its sorrows and cares.
From the ends of the eart
to my God I will cry,
Lead me to the Rock
that is higher than I.
When Satan the tempter
rolls in with a flood
to drive my poor soul
from its Fountain of Good,
I will cling to my Savior
who humbly did die;
Lead me to the Rock
that is higher than I.