Earthquakes Real and Imagined

The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Psalm 18:7

Those who see you stare at you, they ponder your fate: “Is this the man who shook the earth and made kingdoms tremble. Isaiah 14:16

There are two kinds of earthquakes affecting the world at his time. There is the real and there is the imagined. I experienced a real one for the first time in my life this week. It was delightfully encouraging to me. I will be 50 years old at my next birthday and having been living on a fault line all that time. I had read about it and thought ‘oh my’ briefly but went on living under the protection of God. It reminded me that I am dependent upon him and that the very ground I walk on would be unsteady if it were not for him.

There is a second kind of earthquake that I see so many people consumed with in my life. It is the anxiety of worry about the earth quakes that never happen. Isaiah 14:16 speaks about the devil and how he made nations tremble. What do they tremble at? They tremble at the possibility of natural disasters, economic crises, famine and war among and other things. They tremble because they think that they have power of intellect to solve such problems. The enemy consumes our minds with news of disaster and doom and we worry and fret and we quake because we forget who is in charge. “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. (Matthew 24: 6-8)

God reminds his church that he is in charge. General ‘Stone Wall’ Jackson said in the midst of battle, “My religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed’ Oh that we would raise up such brave saints again. Jackson went on to talk about being prepared for death at all times and added ‘That is how all men should live, and then all would be equally brave.”

God is calling for his church to be brave in this hour, to delight in earthquakes, to speak to the mountains in their life and cause them to move. Mark 11 In other words to create their own earthquakes! We can do this based on the earthquakes he created himself and the authority he gave us.

The angels do it! “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.” That angel did not just create an earthquake he waited around to see the reaction. God has made us higher than the angels, remember that.

In a similar incident an unbelievers had this reaction to and earthquake. “the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” They had one of those anxiety attacks I was talking about. Only this was not imagined this was real! Jesus was and is alive and he is in charge of earthquakes in the lives of men no matter what the danger.

What did the centurion and those with him see? They saw the perfect timing of God! “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and went into the holy city and appeared to many people.” Matthew 27:52-53. They saw life from the dead!!! Haha It makes me want to shout…

The psalmist said the Earth trembled because God was angry, but angry at what? He is angry at sin and death and disease and a church with little faith.

Believe in God my friends! Acknowledge the work of his son Jesus of Nazareth. Recognize the devil is the greatest fool in all of creation and he is small when a mind is consumed with the greatness of God. “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God” Philippians 4:6 And the God who creates Earthquakes will soon crush Satan underneath your feet!