Dear Family and Friends,

If you’ve ever been in an earthquake, you know that when your surroundings shake, you shake too. 

That said, let me ask – do you feel like the world around us is shaking? Do you have an uneasy feeling – like something is wrong but you don’t know what?

Are you finding that the shaking is making you shake as well? I am.

While some may attribute the shaking to changes made by the new president, the shaking we’re experiencing has actually been going on for some time.

The following are the opening words from a recently released report called State of the Nation.

“What is the state of the nation? This is a fundamental question. Increasingly, we see evidence, from polling data to our own dinner tables, that the answer is ‘not very strong.’

Many feel that things are not going well in the United States. A gnawing sense of angst seems to have descended upon us. We seem polarized and distrustful, worried and pessimistic.”

The project team consisted of leaders and scholars from seven of the nation’s leading think tanks, from across the political spectrum. I found the results of their survey and analysis fascinating, especially this following point.

“Conclusion #4: Our rising incomes are not translating into greater perceived well-being and social relations.

Our measures of perceived well-being, especially in life satisfaction and mental health, are all going in the wrong direction, even as our material well-being continues to rise.

Research has generally suggested that ‘money buys happiness,’ at least to some degree, but our trends on these measures are moving in opposite directions.

We also see declines in our relationships with others, including social isolation and half of the trust measures. Given the importance of social relationships in our lives, these two trends are probably related.”

The report goes on to theorize why money was not buying happiness, but that’s a topic for another day.

Today, let’s see what the Bible says about dealing with externally driven angst and uneasiness.

The book of Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were shaking.

They were facing persecution and imprisonment because they followed Jesus. Times were so hard; some had or were considering abandoning their faith.

We begin with a passage which references Exodus 20:18-21, a story very familiar to these Jewish Christians.

“You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.’ The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’”  Hebrews 12:18-21 NIV

When God entered the presence of the Israelites, the world around them shook. It caused them to shake, to tremble with fear.

In the presence of God, all the flaws and faults we spend a lifetime trying to hide and deny, are revealed.

But here, the writer was reassuring the Hebrews that this was not that mountain.

That they had no reason to shake as their ancestors once did. That now things were different.

The writer then described the mountain the Hebrews came to.

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.”  Hebrews 12:22-23 NIV

These words of encouragement were written in the past tense.

Which means we too have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, to the kingdom that cannot be shaken. And the best news is: Our names are recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Let us be at peace, assured that our future can never be shaken regardless of all the shaking that happens here on earth. We have nothing to fear.

And because Jesus accepted the shaking, the judgment, on our behalf, let us be thankful and worship our Lord with the reverence and awe He truly deserves.

In love always,