When God Sends an Earthquake

BIBLICAL POINT OF REFERENCE:

"God has made everything appropriate to its time, but has put the timeless into their hearts so they cannot find out, from beginning to end, the work which God has done. I recognized that there is nothing better than to rejoice and to do well during life."

~Ecclesiastes 3:11-12

I preach to others (and mostly myself) that I am good with change. I’m good at adapting, I can be flexible and I can adjust to the comings and goings in life.

What a big, fat lie.

I’m terrible at this whole change thing. It makes me uncomfortable, it makes me cross into unchartered territories that I’d prefer to stay away from, and it makes me anxious about all the stuff I don’t know and have to learn. What’s funny is that I actually like learning—at least when I was in school I did.

But I’m not in school anymore. I’m not learning a specialized skill or a unique subject that has be studied through textbooks and research. This time, I’m learning how to grow up. And I don’t even know where to begin.

It’s not like that time I turned sixteen and got my driver’s license, nor is it like graduating from high school only to find out that there was more school to complete. Those times are important and are completely valid on the change scale, but I’ve just about lost my mind with this new addition to life.

What’s worse is that I saw it coming, and I couldn’t do anything to prevent it. How frustrating is it when you know change has to take place, but you can’t do anything to stop it or even slow it down? It’s like an earthquake: It comes, but no matter how sturdy the buildings are and how much you planned for it, you just have to hold on for dear life anyway. And the aftermath is nothing short of destroyed buildings, garbage thrown everywhere, and broken objects at your feet.

Sooner or later, though, you have to put the garbage in the trash can and fix the broken pieces. Sooner or later you have clean up the mess and tidy up your heart. That may include letting it heal, but it may also include letting it digest for a short while so that you can come to terms with your new reality.

I think that’s the stage I’m in right now. I’m in that moment where my life has been thrown around, and I have to decide what to do with it. I have to start over. I have to respond to nature’s course. I have to change.

If I was being honest with myself, I know that if I stayed the same, I wouldn’t grow. If I stayed the same, I wouldn’t have new opportunities. So maybe when God sends an earthquake, we destruct the parts of ourselves that don’t rest in Him. And maybe when God sends an earthquake, He’s asking us to rebuild with Him as the foundation. With Christ, dying to ourselves and shaping our lives in His image creates a new life.

I don’t have to be good at change. I just have to rely on the Lord to heal and move forward.

Your Laughing Sister,

Callahan

Check out the CHANGE quotes page for more inspiration!