When Everything Is Shaken

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.---Psalm 46

We heard the jarring news the first morning after returning home from Guatemala. While we were out of the country a friend lost a teenage son. Coupled with that news we heard that our sister in law was now a patient of Hospice. Though the earth should change…

In Santiago we hopped into the bed of a pickup truck along with twenty other locals and headed to the refugee camp. The town of Santiago lies South of Panajachel on Lake Atitlan. On October 4, 2005 hurricane Stan came off the Pacific with winds up to 80 M.P.H. and dropped around twenty inches of rain. In its wake there were 1,500 confirmed dead and 3.000 missing in Guatemala alone. Though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea…

Near Santiago 1,800 of 10,000 were dead and the rest were moved into refugee camps (more on those in another blog post). Government officials and professionals advised the locals that the camps were temporary. Eight years later the refugee camps are still full and significant change has not occurred. Though it’s waters roar and foam…

The psalmist seems to guarantee the earth will sway beneath us. Events will cause us to tremble as we are forced to let go of things closest and dearest to us. When everything is shaken and we’ve nothing left to hold onto---we hold onto God. Therefore we will not fear…