Shaken...

             Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, (Hebrews 12:28)

 

          I’m listening to Anne of Avonlea, and let’s just say that Anne is not characterized by unshakability. Everything shakes her, and I’m chagrined that I might be only slightly less shakable than she is. Lots of things shake me, even if I don’t show it. They don’t even have to be entirely rational. Recently, I realized that my mind was pulling a nasty trick on me. When we close at work, we have to stay to recover the store and get it ready for when it opens again. The schedule says, “2-C” and every minute we have to stay past closing, my mind counts as a failure  or a punishment – especially if it goes  beyond a half an hour, and it generally involves two hours.

          That’s a trivial sort of shaking, but I have friends who have lost loved ones. Others are facing cancer or some other debilitating disease. Some people are homeless and hungry. Those shakes are not trivial.

          We need to stop here and remember how important it is not to belittle the shakes in someone’s life unless we are very gentle and they know we love them. There must be no “You call that a shake? Let me tell you about a shake!” or “Your shake doesn’t reach my minimum requirements for sympathy.”

That’s one of the nice things about God. He’s not shakable. As someone once put it, He never says, “Oh! My Self!” His kingdom has never been shaken, even when Jesus hung on the cross and died. He’s not shaken by the things that shake us. When we’re shaken, He knows what we need, whether a protector, a steadying hand, a shoulder to cry on, time to calm ourselves, a sense of humor, a gentle shove, or a rebuke.

But here’s the thing. Many years ago, I got through a day braced by the ridiculous fact that I was wearing red polish on my toenails. No one else could see it, but I knew it was there. In the same way (but better!), we can get through being shaken because we know that underneath the shaking is Someone that can’t be shaken, who will hold us up. No one else has to know, but if we can remember Him when we’re being shaken, we can rest.