When the Ground Shakes

Lately, the ground underneath my feet has been shaking. It feels as if my whole world has tipped over, slid into a pile, and left me wondering how to put the broken, jagged pieces back together again. 

Friend, if you feel like your ground is shaking, I want you to know that I see you.  

Yesterday I asked my therapist if life would always be this way. It seems to me that I go from one big earthquake to the next, just hanging on for dear life, and pleading with God not to take any more hits. My therapist smiled softly at me. Nodded her head. And told me that it would not be like this forever.  

Friend, she has not lied to me.  

I don’t have answers for why the seasons are long for heartbreak and the moments are short with joy. Sometimes life is just like that, and as my husband kindheartedly reminds me, seasons pass. This will pass too.  

I’ve wanted to write this message to you for a while, but it seems the ground had to shake a little more for me to find the words. Or perhaps God was waiting for my heart to open to hearing that it will get better, even if it feels worse in the moment.  

Friend, He has not forgotten you.  

In the shaking and shattering of life as you know it, God is holding tight to you. He is covering you as shrapnel flies, wind howls, and tears leak from your eyes. It may not always feel like it, but this is what he promises: His love is an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), and fear not, for I will be with you (Isaiah 41:10). 

That is the greatest hope we will ever have.  

The ground will not shake forever.  

And God will hold your hand in the dark places. So will I.  

With love,  

Shannon M.