Immediately, panic tried to set in. I just finished reading Daniel Woolley's book, Unshaken, Rising From the Ruins of Haiti's Hotel Montana and it seemed as if his whole book flashed in front of my mind--what stood out was how important it is not to panic and, of course, God's faithfulness.
After reading all he experienced and especially the darkest times of being buried alive under six stories of the Hotel Montana and singing praises to God a good portion of those two and a half days--all of this made its way instantly through my mind-- and almost immediately I felt a peace, a calm, the antithesis of panic--
Also during this blackout, I was already starting to formulate in my mind a plan of how I could get to the front of the store the safest way.
What was interesting was the mass exodus as soon as the lights came back on--about a second, maybe not that long, later--yes, I am not joking--the store was totally black a second or less. However, I suppose many thought that the lights would probably go out again because a couple minutes later, the loudspeaker was calling for all help to the front.
I don't know whether everyone just happened to get to the checkout line at the same time or whether they were thinking about the people of Japan or the fault line here in Arkansas that has produced its own earthquakes lately--in fact, we had some yesterday in Greenbrier--small ones--3.3 was the largest I think--Greenbrier is about an hour's drive from here-
Another day, another time, I might have done the same but I continued on with my grocery shopping in perfect peace. And I know it was nothing of my doing, it was only because my mind was stayed on God and His incredible grace and peace.
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3
I guess there are a couple of things I can glean from this experience--
the first being that our minds are created so magnificently that in one second, we can have myriad thoughts--thoughts so precise that they can be related later--
and secondly, just how wonderful God's peace is and how totally palpable it was to me today--
The title of Woolley's book, Unshaken, refers to the faithfulness and love of God--our minds will be shaken at times--shaken to the point we think we might lose it all--it is only in His steadfastness, His utter unshakability that we have any hope at any time of our lives, no matter how steady the ground under our feet or how much light is available.
So, today, right at this moment, I ask Him to shake me--to rid me of the things that need to be shaken loose so all that remains is what He can use for His glory.
At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.” Hebrews 12:26-28
Consume all that is not pleasing to You, O Lord.
Loving you,
Dianne
2011-the Year of Beyond
