The elegant spy, James Bond, always wanted his martinis “shaken, not stirred.” I am not a spy; I’m not elegant; and I never drink martinis. But I am (and we all are) living in stirring times. We’re being stirred from our normal routines, sense of well-being and feelings of freedom.
Since none of us would likely want to imitate James Bond’s immoral behavior, and we probably don’t want to imitate his drinking habits either, let’s aim for the opposite. We can accept that we’re being stirred, but we don’t have to be shaken.
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I felt annoyed when I learned about the mandated health precautions for the coronavirus. I was worried that pro-abortion politicians would use the situation to blame this predicament on our pro-life president. I was shaken because I thought that recent pro-life legislative gains might be reversed. My worries stirred me to open my Bible.
I found a question in Psalm 15 that turned my thoughts away from earthly troubles and toward something far greater and eternal. The psalm asks, “O Lord, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?” The psalm gives a key answer to that question, saying that it is “he who…speaks truth in his heart.”
If we speak truth in our hearts what will we tell ourselves? We’ll remind ourselves and others about God’s goodness, His power over all disasters – all life and death. We’ll remember that He has endless, perfect love, good plans, and that nothing can stop Him.
Tweet This: If we speak truth in our hearts what'll we tell ourselves? We’ll remind ourselves/others about God’s goodness, His power over all disasters
What is the truth about us? We sin and cannot reach God’s “holy hill.” We’re not holy. If we speak truth in our hearts, we recognize that our motives and thoughts are sometimes not pure, our words are not always wise, and our actions are not perfect. We know our faith is weak, and our view of God too small. In our lucid moments we see that we cannot make our own way to God.
But Jesus makes a way for us. He says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me” (John 14:6). The One who died to save all who have faith in Him is also the One who can see us through this difficult time. When we believe His words and surrender our lives on Him, we rest on a Rock that can never be shaken.
If we remember His truths, we’ll know how to explain truth to others. We’ll know how to speak truth from our hearts to those who, because of a pregnancy, may feel a loss of normalcy of freedom, or of hope. And God will also give us wisdom to speak to those who fight against truth.
Psalm 15 ends by saying that the one who “does these things will never be shaken.”
A shaken martini cannot calm us the way the Bible can, if we read it thoughtfully, and let God’s words speak hopeful truth into our hearts. No matter how much everything is stirred up around us, we can say with the psalmist,
“I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken” (Psalm 16:8).
Isn’t that what we all need right now – a way to never be shaken?