Secure

July 16, 1990. It was a casual stroll on the school grounds with my friend on a usually warm and humid afternoon. Students are busting out of the classrooms at quarter past four.

Then the earth shook. I wish it was 3-second tremor that can scare the heart of me. It was not. It was a delirious pounding, shaking, spinning from the ground that toppled me and Raquel. Think about riding the carousel that has gone wild. You can’t get up and there’s no use to try. Brace yourself and hang on for dear life.

I saw the high school building collapse and crash a 300 feet away. The rumbling sound and screams of fear shook the ground more fiercely. Will the earth give way and swallow me? I thought about my mother who was teaching in one of the buildings that time and my other friends in the classrooms chatting away while we left for a walk. “ God help us!” “God have mercy on us !” This was a call for help from everyone around me. It was a terrifying 45- second 7.7 magnitude earthquake. A student lost his life saving another that fateful day.

What is your worst experience that made you hold on to dear life? Who did you call for help? Did you find help in your trouble?

To be secured is to walk in a solid footing. There is a sense of certainty in your steps.It’s like walking in the school grounds without thinking about earthquakes. Everything goes well as expected. But what if life is uncertain ? What if “sure” is not a word ?

Who will you run to ? Who will you call? Who will respond to you in the midst of it all ? Man’s help is temporary. We can only hold so much. What if the earth shakes beneath your human help ? There should be something more certain than that.

You and I have help though this unsettled times. We have a sure and secure place to stand. Jesus has another name. He is called the Solid Rock. He is the Firm Foundation where you can stand. People around us give way to fear. Things we hold onto will collapse at our feet. It has to happen to unveil the true foundation of whom you have believed .

He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. Psalm 40:2