Not shaken

The last couple of days have been very difficult. Last Saturday my beautiful Chile suffered a massive earthquake. It has never been one like that one before, and I pray that it won't ever be another one like it. My dear brother with his family lives in Talca. My sister was on holidays with her family in Pelluhue where the tsunami was. That was the only information that I had and after hearing how terrible the devastation was I thought that my whole family was dead.

I cried and cried not because I don't trust in God, but because an earthquake is a horrible thing and a reminder that this is a fallen world. I wept because the idea of having lost my family was terrible.

I believe in a good and gracious God, in a God that has everything under control. But that doesn't mean that I can't feel sad for the destruction that my country and my family had.

Yesterday night I finally talked to my dad. He was fine, the house where he lives, although is very old, stood firm. My sister escaped from the tsunami and my brother was fine, although scared.

God is good because he protected my family. But, hang on an minute, How would I feel about God if that hadn't been the case? How would I have felt if someone had died?

It is hard to say but I think I would have cried for another week. I would still believe that God is a Sovereign and good God, that he loves me and he cares for me and my family. There are lots of times when I don't like what God does, because is painful or uncomfortable. But my faith is not based on how God behaves towards me, meeting my desires and hopes. My faith is based on the fact that he loved me and saved me when I was his enemy, when I was the ruins of the earthquake called sin. He has already shown me how much he cares in sending his only Son to die in my place. That's why my faith is not shaken, although the whole earth shakes, my faith in the Living God stands firm!