I experienced two big earthquakes last week and it was scary!
I was singing my daughter to sleep, part of our sleep routine, when my husband came in and said, “Earthquake!” Thankfully, nothing was damaged. But it was frightening for me! I had never experienced an earthquake that big before.
When you’re in the middle of an earthquake, where the world you live in is literally shaking, it makes you think. It made me realize that I am not in control of my life.
So often as a mom I want to be in control of everything. I don’t want my baby to cry in nursery, or fall on the sidewalk, or get in a car accident, or pinch her finger. And, sometimes, I convince myself that I can actually prevent all those things on my own. If I give her a snack, she won’t cry. If I always hold her hand, she won’t fall. If I drive super carefully, we won’t get hit by another car. If I lock all the cabinets and doors, she won’t pinch her finger.
And this want to be in control comes out of fear.
I, like most parents, don’t want anything bad to happen. So my fear of bad things happening makes me want to control everything to achieve a good outcome, i. e. nothing bad happening.
But sitting in the shaking of the earthquake showed me that I am definitely not in control. Even if I do all those things for my family and daughter, it does not guarantee any certain outcome.
“I am not in control.”
I know people have joked that God sent the earthquakes to California to wake people up. Well, He did use it to remind this California girl that He is the one in control.
In the Bible, earthquakes often show God’s power, I mean He is literally shaking the world after all (see Job 39:24, Isaiah 29:6, Matthew 28:2, Acts 16:26). And that shows me, that He is in control of all things. He is sovereign over everything in life. In fact, He is so sovereign that He actually slept through an earthquake while He was on earth. It didn’t bother Him at all (Matthew 8:24).
So then, what reason do I have to fear?
My powerful God is in control of all of my life. And, His sovereignty over earthquakes is just one of many, abundant reasons to trust Him. He tells me that He knows when a sparrow hops, not just falls, but every single hop (Matthew 6:25-34). That He knows me inside and out (Psalm 139). That He has a plan for my life (Philippians 1:6). That He will bring everything together in its time (Ecclesiastes 3). That He is on my side no matter what (Romans 8:31)
And, even if bad things happen (by the way, they have and will), I know that He is sovereign over all of it. And He uses the bad for His glory as well as the good.
So, I really have no reason to fear. I have every reason not to fear. Every reason to be at peace through life and trust God’s timing and sovereignty over it all.
Of course, this does not mean that I should be careless. I’m still called to be a good mom. But as bad and good things happen I can trust that God is in control and not me. I can give Him all the glory in every aspect of life. And I can not fear.
