Unshaken...

    I didn't understand the significance of the title to Dan Woolley's new book, Unshaken, even when I first realized that he had been in the horrific earthquake in Haiti in January 2010.  The book is excellent, a weaving of two serious issues that he and his wife faced - his traumatic two and a half days of being buried in total darkness, underneath the ruins of a six-story hotel; her struggle for years under the crushing weight of clinical depression.  In both cases, he gives a riveting and very honest account of all they went through.
    While he was trapped, Dan managed to keep his spirits up until he realized that rescuers who had been coming nearer to his cement prison were suddenly, inexplicably... going away.  To be so close!  And then to be abandoned!  At that point, he descended into an emotional pit that threatened to overwhelm him.  He had been trying to cling to the promise of Romans 8:28, that even if he died there, God would still somehow bring good out of it all for his young sons and his wife.
    At this low point, in desperation  he prayed, "Father, I so want to believe that you can bring good out of any situation and even bring good to my family if I die. But I just can't see it. I can't imagine how anything other than rescuing me would be a good plan for them. Please intervene!"
    "I'm not going to bargain with you, God....I'm going to tell you again what I want... to go back to my family..."
    At this point, he became afraid that he would hyperventilate.  He said he plummeted into "despair unlike anything I had ever experienced before."
   And it was then that  God's still small voice spoke two words into his heart:  "Worship me."
   It was hard to believe that God would meet his desperation with those words.  And even more to the point, he wasn't sure that he  actually could worship.  He decided that perhaps he could try to sing.  One hymn that came to mind, "Be Still, My Soul", included these words:  "Leave to thy God to order and provide; in every change, He faithful will remain."
    What happened then is well worth reading the book, aside from all the other valuable things that God showed him during this time.  Suffice it to say, that at this point, I realized just what was unshaken.  
    Psalms 46:1-2 NLT:  God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.  So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.