When things close to us start shaking, what's the first thing we grab hold of? Pastor Colin Bond wonders what our priorities really are...

t was holiday-time in Italy with the family, about 3 o’clock in the morning - I was sound asleep, when the bed started to shake. Awaking as only I can, ready to take on the joker, I found the electric light was swinging 12 inches side-to-side. Then I realised the bed was shaking longitudinally, not from side to side. Then the wardrobe was bouncing off the wall.

What is this? My stupefied brain tried to ascertain as it slowly became functional again. An earthquake! Of course! Then the excited noise of the locals rose to the third floor where we had been sleeping. They all seemed to be outside in the road. Shouldn’t I take the family out too? I’m tired. Let’s sing "God is our refuge" and go back to sleep!

But for a while it was so strange, for the first time in life the ground was shaking under our feet. It had never happened to me before. I’d never felt so insecure. Strange feeling. Security, stability always taken for granted, existed no more. Life seemed so uncertain. As a Dad I was caught unready. It was reassuring when the shaking stopped and normality returned.

he Bible says that God shakes what can be shaken so what cannot be shaken shall remain. As a nation we are being shaken at present - our new Government is shaking the economy as they attempt to turn our national debt around. The instability of our national economy is a worry; our pensions and insurances are not a security to provide in our old age. Why, even our side in the World Cup for football was shaken, surprised how lesser teams are holding them to a draw and jeopardising our chances of going on for the cup.

What and who can we trust when we cannot help ourselves any more? When sickness or old age arrives, who will care? Is there growing interest in euthanasia? Will that be an answer?

Money rules. Projects must be profitable. Promotion always hangs before us like a carrot before a donkey. The stock market can be an anxiety. And yet the Bible says, "The love of money is the root of all evil." We can see it so clearly in the behaviour of the banks recently, but are we as individuals ruled by financial and material possession more than perhaps we'd like to admit?
What about you? Has your life been shaken recently? What are you hanging on to for security and reassurance? Jesus tells us, "Heaven and Earth will pass away but My Word will not pass away." Well, there’s a thought for you to investigate - and maybe some of the articles in the rest of the magazine will help!

Colin