Living Unshaken in Shaky Times

I want my faith to be unaffected by circumstance. I know our faith is tested through uncertainty, but I want to live unshaken in shaky times. I choose to live where crisis might rock my boat but doesn’t sink my ship. There is only one Way to achieve this—living focused on Christ and not the circumstance.

Living Unshaken

The world is a crazy place right now…a fearful place. And no matter which of this nation’s political party you affiliate with, the results of this upcoming election are going to be DEFCON 1. Actually, we currently live in DEFCON 1, which has made us susceptible to doubt and fear. When the world is in crisis, it is difficult to keep our eyes off what is happening and onto what God is doing. Often the immediate seems more real than the eternal. Yet the Truth is, it only seems like reality, where our actual Reality is a Person.

Our answer is to sink down into Him who is our Faith rather than being situationally sunk. Christ is our only steady and sure foundation. The world could be burning down around us and as long as He is our anchor and not our circumstances, we are safe. Situations are a cruel mistress but our Lord is our security.

We have lived for year in a prosperous bubble of security. Sure, there have been turbulent waves and the crises have been increasing, but in our current living reality everything is suspect. It makes us feel off. In response we suffer from depression, addiction, and fear permeates our culture. All those who haven’t required Him as vital are being completely undone. I don’t want to be one of these. I choose to live stable and fixed in the bosom of my Lord.

Shaky Times

I was driving down the road the other day and the radio was on to the news. The words came across like a blaring siren. I could have gotten all caught up in the informational flow and been carried right into despair and fear. All I would have had to do is turn my gaze from Christ and onto the crisis. But I had a check in my spirit. “Just, sink down into Me!” So I got quiet and still.

I realized this is to be my every response. Don’t rise up in fear but sink down into Him. Again, this is easier said than done. Especially in times of crisis! But I DO have the power of choice. I CAN choose. I have the power of free-will to direct my gaze. So I settled in to Jesus, abandoning the tsunami of evidence that my world is not right. And then I saw, this was not just a one off encounter, it is my Life. I am always to choose this Way in crisis. The great news is, I do have the choice. And He is my power and stability. He is unshakeable when everything is shaky.

Personally I have to get quiet and still inside. I have to hone in my focus. This is not a method of escape or retreat, if anything it empowers and activates. It’s from this place with Him that I get my bearings set. He directs my forward activities and attitudes rather than allowing me to flounder in distress. I am sure this is just a technique and not a mandate. Christ meets us where we are at. But I am so grateful His Life dwells inside my body. I can’t imagine what it is for those souls who don’t have His sustaining Life in residence. No wonder there is chaos, depression, addiction, and fear.

Be Still and Know

Here is Psalms 91 with some scriptural proof of the reality and results of living unshaken in shaky times.

“HE WHO dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust! For [then] He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day, Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, [Ps. 91:1, 14.] There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent. For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service]. They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. [Luke 4:10, 11; Heb. 1:14.] You shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot. [Luke 10:19.]

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness–trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never]. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.”
Psalm 91:1-16 AMPC