Steady

Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed,
yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken
nor my covenant of peace be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion for you.
Isaiah 54:10

I’ve never experienced an earthquake but have listened to stories from those who have. They explained it as feeling as if their equilibrium was shifted, similar to the feeling right before fainting, and the inability to find their footing. Their association to fainting resonated with me. I think I spent 10% of my teenage years on the floor after passing out. I would faint for inexplicable reasons and in strange places – the city bus, the bathroom, in the middle of a haircut. That familiar feeling of blood rushing to my buzzing head while trying to keep my feet under me. I knew what was coming and couldn’t do a thing to keep it from happening. I was completely out of control.

I imagine that is how I would feel in an earthquake. If the beautiful mountains that I live near were shaken or the foothills were removed, I would feel vulnerable, out of control, as if a baseline for what I knew to be true was no longer reliable. Shaken, but not just in the physical sense.

When life-changing events, or even a series of troubling events, happen we can lose our equilibrium. Things we’ve always known to be constant suddenly aren’t. We are shaken. We are scared. So how does our loving Father respond? With compassion. He steadies us with His unshakable truth – He loves us. He brings us back to center, reminding us of His promise of peace. He reminds us of the only plumbline we can rely on – Him.

When we find ourselves on the floor, He is there with us. When we are shaken by life, He wraps His steady arms of love around us. When people are hurtful or dismissive, He comes alongside us and reminds us of our value. He has set a place specifically for us at His table. He wants to be with us. He is expecting us. He has prepared for us. Despite what we see around us, He is continuously whispering ….

You are adored.