Took this photo in the morning before going to work, no thoughts at all that by night, we would be shaken by a 6.9 magnitude earthquake. 

    When it happened, I was at a work event - a gala night with a private auction for a cause where guests bid on items at prices that would take me years to save.  All these possessions and wealth combined, yet no one in that room had the capacity to stop the earthquake. Regardless of the position and title, all ran for their safety - powerless before a calamity. The creatures trembled before the Creator.

    To me, it was a shaking reminder of who to fear most: no boss, no governor, and definitely no other authority higher than the Lord. 

    A series of earthquakes has been recorded since then, and most, if not all of us, are in constant fear and panic. In this, it is a comforting reminder also of who to run to for refuge - no safer, steadier, and more solid ground than in the Lord.

   Echoing the Psalm of David:

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.

    To have a healthy fear of the Lord while understanding His love is how believers are called to live. 

    God is holy and just; He punishes sin and disciplines His people. In His sovereignty, He allows calamities and even deaths to occur for His own purposes. A painful truth that most won't preach about. 

    At the same time, we see His love in that, though none of us deserved safe, peaceful days because of our rebellion and sins against Him, He gave His Son to bear the wrath that is for us. In His Son Jesus Christ, we now have a life that is beyond these earthly structures - a life that is not threatened by calamities, sickness, and even death itself. 

   In Christ, though sufferings come, it will only make a believer yearn for heaven. Though earthly death will come, it will not sting but only lead us to where our Father will welcome us home. The earth will quake, ruin our cities and bring despair but faith in Christ will fix our eyes on Him who promised a better city that only knows joy ... and joy that is everlasting. 

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself." Philippians 3:20-21