Shaken

Scripture

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.

~Psalm 55:22, REB

Quote

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.

~Martin Luther

Can a believer be visibly shaken? In Psalm 30 David said, “I felt secure, I said to myself, ‘I will never be shaken.’ LORD, when you favored me, you made my royal mountain stand firm; but when you hid your face, I was dismayed.” Obviously, David had times when he was shaken. Tragedy can shake us up, the loss of a love one or dear friend can shake us up. A divorce can rock your world and so can the death of a child. So in answer to the question: I believe even Christians can get shook up. I admit that I don’t like to be shaken but sometimes it is necessary. Sometimes we have to shake people to get them to wake up and sometimes we shake them to get them to pay attention.

What do we do when events or circumstances shake us up? When Jesus got word that John had been beheaded He found a place to be alone with the Father. He retreated from the crowd and the traffic. He spent quality time with the Father. It is a good formula to follow. I was shaken by Lilly’s sickness and departure. I was so in hopes that the LORD would heal her: June and I stayed updated through out Sunday and late into the night. We knew, barring a miracle, her departure was at hand. She was on my mind as soon as I woke up Monday morning and my first question to June was, “How is Lilly?” When June told me she had departed, I ate my breakfast and went to my place of prayer and stayed there all morning. Around noon, I got some peace. A text from Belinda and Luther’s A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD really helped but I do admit, I was shaken.

Lilly Graham went to be with Jesus yesterday morning a little after 4:00 am. I think her last words were, “Tell everyone I love them.” It broke my heart and spirit. When Herod beheaded John, Jesus found a place to be alone and that’s what I had to do. I spent all morning with the LORD. I will not lie, Lilly’s sickness and early departure has shaken me. Thankfully, Jesus is patient with a doubting Thomas. Really our grief is for ourselves and what lies ahead: Lilly’s battle is over. No more fear, anxiety, pain or disappointment for Lilly.

June and I are still trying to recover from all the travel: I think in a few more days we will be back to full speed. Sunday was a marathon for me but yesterday I took it easy, made it a sabbath. We want to thank Deidra and Soy for being such gracious host in Guatemala. Deidra is a worker, a top notch administrator and some day Soy will be a good driver. He needs a louder horn and a little more courage. I may have to send Ken Blackwood down to teach him how to drive in a foreign country. I think Deidra had something to do with it but I know Eddie paid the bill. United Airlines got by with some corporate fraud: we need to boycott them and Birmingham. I’ll fly Eddie Airlines or I want fly at all. I think we can stick a fork in Big Mama: she is through flying at all. We do want to thank Eddie for making Big Mama’s dream come true: she got to meet Henry and spend 3 hours with him and some time with his entire family. The way I look at it, the LORD used Eddie and I give Him praise but we also want to thank Eddie–He made it all happen. The hotel in Guatemala city was unbelievable! I’d never seen anything like it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *