I live in Oregon where just yesterday we had five earthquakes off our coast. These earthquakes took place in a region near a major undersea subduction zone that if released will bring great devastation to the western states of America and beyond. Off our coastline an underwater volcano is erupting. Across the Pacific in the South China Sea the nation of China is creating new islands in disputed waters and installing weapon systems to defend their claim. China is threatening war with anyone who would oppose them. These events are all taking place on my side of the globe while other parts of the world are dealing with their own issues. Our earth is noisy with pain, sorrow and the birth pains of change.
Before I began to write these words, I saw an image of God's hand resting on the handle of an antique plunger box used to signal a detonation to a load of dynamite. As I viewed this image it appeared that time had slowed down in anticipation of what was about to take place. As time slowed all of the potentially traumatic events on earth were being pushed to the perimeter of this moment in time as God was preparing to detonate an explosion of His presence upon the earth. As the Psalmist said, "I lift up my eyes to you, to you who sit enthroned in heaven. As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, till he shows us his mercy." (Psalm 123:1-2)
In this moment in human history the only safe place to fix your gaze is on the hand of God. This will also be your place of peace while others become bound more tightly with fear. God works in reverse of natural thinking. Just when everyone is overly focused on turmoil and potential catastrophe, God will ask you to focus on His strong hand. As you begin to shift your focus away from the cultural storms and fears of natural disaster to the hand of God, the power of these fearful events will be displaced by the supernatural peace of God.
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