Shaken, Not Stirred

I don’t believe in flukes. Everything happens for a reason. (You could disagree with me, but I’d just tell you there is a good reason for you disagreeing.) The last couple days have been rough. I had a writing deadline, my body is essentially glitching on me. I’m in pain, I’m exhausted and I feel gross. Small stuff in the shadow of the Ebola scare, but you know. I keep praying and reading my Bible, but it’s not making as much sense as it usually does. My house is a mess so I decide to listen to a sermon while I clean during my boys’ nap.

I swear our 6 month old puppy, Rango, is a faster learner then I am. I tell him to sit, it takes a couple verbal commands or a nudge on his behind, but he sits. Several times a day, my 2 year old will pat Rango on the nose and run off giggling. It is a taunt, an invitation, to disobey. The puppy wags his tail, he might whine, but he looks at me, keeping eye contact. He’s young and feisty, but he has impressive discipline.

The sermon queued up on my phone is on Haggai, called Shaking the World. As I listen, it becomes clear that my problem isn’t my broken body, it isn’t the way my pants fit, it isn’t even that my To Do list is growing instead of shrinking. My problem is that I’ve lost my focus. In the sermon, Pastor Sumpter talks about how when God draws near, stuff happens — the world shakes, *we* shake and it is good. There is a wonderful point to God’s dramatic approach. He is making the world, He is making us new. He is making Glory. I’ve written before that I think my experiences with Hyperemesis Gravidarum were a gift from God, a gift to shake me out of complacency, a gift to teach me faith. Weeks like this week (yes, I know it is only Monday), are like minor earthquakes, designed to remind me to stay focused on Christ. It is when I finally realize this that I can intentionally lean in to Christ, that I am able to rejoice, to thank God for the sour laundry, for my slow computer, for my bloated belly.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

-Matthew 11:28-30 ESV

If you want to hear the sermon, I highly recommend it to you, here is the online link:

http://thecafe.canonpress.org/trinitypodcast/2014/09/15/minor-prophets-xv-shaking-the-world-haggai/

You can also find this sermon on iTunes here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/minor-prophets-xv-shaking/id663098110?i=319033777&mt=2