A Shaky Reminder...and a Rock-solid Promise!

WOW!  Something just happened that reminded me of an event from 1987, when we were still living in

Shell, on the edge of Ecuador's eastern jungles.

EARTHQUAKE!! A few minutes ago (this is August 12th), our house here in Quito shook with force for about 10 seconds, then took another 10 seconds or so to wind down and finally stop its shaking. As I'm writing this, I've felt three weaker aftershocks.  (Many more have registered on the seismographs, but haven't been strong enough to feel.) Last Friday there was a short tremor, too...and it had been quite a while since we last felt one.

Ecuador sits on serious fault lines...tremors are a part of life.  In this country's

history there have been some incredibly devastating ones, like that of August 1949, when the town of Pelileo was reduced to rubble.  (See picture.)

Our house here in Quito, like many, was built with quake-resistant foundations, chains that allow the house to sway without coming apart.  (Or something like that!)  So when it starts to shake, we go into "alert mode", but usually don't stop what we're doing, or even bother to get up from wherever we're sitting or laying...until we see if it's worth getting up for!  After all, it could go either way! And no matter how good the "anti-seismic" measures are, a really, really hard earthquake could still level everything!

Our children had instructions for whenever they felt a quake at night.  They were to grab a pair of shoes and a blanket and come to us.  If the tremor was intense enough, we might have to go outside, where it was cold, and nocturnal creepy-crawlies might get stepped on.

On March 5, 1987, in Shell, our house shook violently enough that I almost lost my balance walking!  It shook at a little before 9:00 p.m. (6.1 on the Richter), and then again at 11:10 p.m. (6.9 on the Richter).  The kids were awake for the first one, and obediently got their shoes and blankets.  I think they may have slept through the second one, in spite of its intensity!  It wasn't necessary to go outside.

Over the next few days, we were shocked at how much havoc the earthquake had wreaked:  1000 people dead, and around one billion dollars in damage.  Also, 70 kms. of the oil pipe lines were destroyed.  But the majority of the deaths  and damage was not caused by the quake itself, but by the mudslides that it triggered. I remember hearing that many people just disappeared under the waves of mud.  
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Even when we don't live in an earthquake zone, our life can go through emotional and spiritual "tremors", when everything seems to waver, and the lack of equilibrium, or the repeated "aftershocks" in our hearts, minds and souls threaten our balance. Sadness, hopes dashed, disappointments, rejection, upheaval, bereavement...many things can shake us up, and can be more traumatic than geological earthquakes.  But we who have given our lives into God's hands can go into "alert mode" and trust in that ready-made place of stability and strength we can stand on...as we're reminded in the words to this song:

                           Jesus Turns My Sorrow

                    //Jesus changes sadness to praise,
                    lifting up my soul with His Grace.
                    He will turn my sorrow into a song.//      

            

                    Even though I tremble on the Rock,
                    the Rock will never tremble under me!
                    So even in my weakness, I'm strong.
                    Jesus turns my sorrow into a song.

                    //Jesus changed despair into hope,
                    lifting up my head, once bowed low.
                   Then He turned my sorrow into a song.//

                    He promises to comfort those who mourn,
                    and promises His healing to the heart that's torn.
                    So even in my weakness, I'm strong.
                    Jesus turns my sorrow into a song.
                                                                                   --Becky Rhon
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God Himself assures us:  " '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 on you."  (Isaiah 54:10)

The psalmist treasured this promise, and declared it time-and-again in his songs.

"The Lord is my rock,  my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge.  He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold."  (Psalm 18:2)

And a prayer He is always ready to answer: "Be my rock of refuge, to which I can always go." (Psalm 71:3
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                          No matter what happens, we are safe in His arms!