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

Early one morning in 1993 my family was yanked from a deep sleep to a roaring noise and the feeling that the house was rattling apart. We met in the dark hallway in our pajamas. I think I yelled, “What’s happening?” A 5.6 earthquake was unthinkable, yet there we were in the middle of one. Years later, I felt another earthquake that was only a few tiny clinking noises across the room. For years I was jumpy at the smallest sounds, hoping it wasn’t the start of another big one.

I think doubts can be like earthquakes. Some are shattering and we fall on our face before God begging for mercy. Others are more subtle, like the nagging questions we can’t answer, the worries that won’t subside, or the threads of our future we want to control so badly. Although the quieter doubts seem less damaging, they can become a disaster if we don’t stay alert to them. As we grapple with our circumstances, we might even confess, “God I didn’t want to have to trust you with this.” I imagine Him saying, “Yes, Child, the ground below you is slipping. Yes, the walls around you are shifting and leaning. Yes, everything that’s loose is moving and the noise of it all is terrifying. This is why you need me.”

The world around us seems to be all earthquakes, quicksand, and unstable shorelines. The foolish build their houses there, and like the song says, CRASH! It’s all going to break down.

In the shadows of our hearts, we hide our uncertainties and our fears. But God! God is a rock unchanging, our only sure footing, and our only safe, solid, stable place — intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually.

Even when we wrestle with doubt and we feel shaken, God is not shaken. He calls us to trust anyway, to praise anyway, and to keep walking by faith. When we feel shaken, He is ready and waiting to hold us, and to help our unbelief.

By Kristi Moore

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