“He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the river crashed against that house and couldn’t shake it, because it was well built.” (Luke 6:48)
“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful. By it, we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and awe.” (Hebrews 12:28)
Recently, I wrote a blog about an impression I received about a great shaking coming to the Catholic Church (“Shaken and Purified,” https://www.highbeamministry.com/post/shaken-and-purified).
The purpose of this God-allowed shaking will be for purification purposes to set a clear distinction between what is holy and not holy clearly, godly and not godly. This time of shaking will, I believe, create a schism within the Catholic Church because some Catholics will move toward increased holiness, and others will pursue a worldly, man-centered institution.
This impression led me to ponder if the same thing would happen to the Protestant side of Jesus’ Body. Of course, let’s not leave out the Eastern Orthodox believers either. I don’t have a profound prophecy about a coming shaking for those two groups, but shaking is inevitable.
Shaking is always inevitable.
Shaking is part of life. Our placid lives are often shaken up when unexpected things happen. Even if we do anticipate something happening, we’re shaken when what we expect is worse than what we thought was coming. For example, when we experience a death, a job loss, a family blow-up, a massive bill to pay, or whatever. I could fill this whole blog and more with all the ways life shakes us to our core.
Nobody likes being shaken. (Unless I’m on a rollercoaster. That shaking, I love!)
One of the keys to making it through a shaking time is to know that our Heavenly Father is sovereign and that everything that comes our way must pass through His hands first. This is a fundamental biblical truth. Our Father rules all, knows all, and has everything under His control, even if we don’t understand every why and wherefore. Our Father cannot be shaken, and neither can His kingdom. Why? Because He has absolute authority and power inside and outside of creation, which includes everything. If you doubt my take on our Father’s unshakableness, tell me what would shake the Undisputed, Uncontested Champion of Everything (UUCE).
I’ll wait.
Nothing, huh? Of course not, because finding God shakable would violate His divine nature. As a result of God’s unshakable nature, I trust my UUCE to be my firm foundation, my solid bulwark, and my strong support whenever I get all shook up. (Thanks, Elvis.) But knowing God’s unshakableness doesn’t make my time of shaking any more pleasant or short-lived. And sometimes, my Heavenly Father even allows us to get “all shook up” for His purposes. The good news is there are some positives to a good shaking, especially if our Father initiates it.
For example, John Bevere points out in his book, The Bait Of Satan, that the Father allowed Satan to “sift Peter like wheat” (Luke 22:31). “Satan had requested permission to shake Simon Peter so severely that he would lose his faith. The enemy’s intent was to destroy this man of great potential, who had received so much revelation (regarding Jesus’ divine nature and messianic mission – Jay). But God had a different purpose for the shaking, and, as always, God is way ahead of the devil. He allowed the enemy to do this in order to shake everything in Simon Peter that needed to be shaken.”
The Father knew Peter was impetuous and had, from what I glean, a bit of a pride problem. “‘Even if I have to die with you,’ Peter told him (Jesus), ‘I will never deny you,’ and all the disciples said the same thing” (Matthew 26:35). Come to think of it, the rest of the disciples were overly sure of themselves, too. But not more than six hours later, Peter denied Jesus repeatedly (Matthew 26:73-75). Peter’s shaky foundation was painfully and clearly revealed.
Why does God allow us to be shaken, even severely, at times? I’ve heard it said that if you want to know what’s in a barrel, shake it up. Shaking is not meant to show our Father what’s in us but so we can see what’s in us. A good shaking reveals quickly the depth of our commitment to God, His commands, and the way He wants us to live. That’s one reason.
Another reason is to stir up and flush out attitudes, habits, and stinkin’ thinkin’ that have settled in our lives. A creek stays clean and fresh when the water flows with enough force to carry away dirt, sand, and decaying plant matter. Over time, a creek will build up silt and sediment if the water flow is too weak to flush out the detritus. Given enough time, these deposits settle and become impossible for the water to clear. The sedimentary deposits also staunch the flow of water. How do we “clear the creek”? By stirring up the muck and allowing the dammed-up water to flush the cloudy mess away.
That’s what happens during a great shaking. All that lovely, mucky slime in us gets stirred up, and the free-flowing fresh living water of the Holy Spirit flushes it out of us. A shaking reveals what needs to be cleared and does so if we stay calm and cooperate with the Lord. After our grand shake-up, we’ll see ourselves changed and improved, particularly spiritually, if we hold fast to what can’t be shaken – our Father and His kingdom.
Getting back to John Bevere’s book, he shares his wife’s insights about times of shaking. “God showed my wife, Lisa, five purposes for shaking an object:
To bring it closer to its foundation,
To remove what is dead,
To harvest what is ripe,
To awaken,
To unify or mix together so it can no longer be separated.
Let’s mull over these five for a moment.
To bring it closer to its foundation. Jesus and His word are a disciple’s sure foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11; Luke 6:46-49). But as most of us disciples know, the cares and busyness of life get in the way of our relationship with our Living Lord, who resides with us through His Spirit. When we ignore that relationship, we quench the Spirit, inhibiting the flow of Living Water, and the sediment of life quickly builds up. Whether the shaking is ordinary or Father-sent, it’s a great time to see our spiritual condition and allow the Holy Spirit to reset us on solid ground.
To remove what is dead. This purpose relates closely to the previous one. When a shaking comes, we not only see our spiritual condition but also those things in our lives that caused our spiritual life to begin dying. False beliefs, fruitless behavior, sinful habits, and an encroaching dependence on earthly things rather than on Jesus soon create a mucky layer over our primary foundation. When shaking starts, it stirs up the putrid slime of dead works and ungodly living for the Holy Spirit to wash away as we repent. It’s a great time to ask the Holy Spirit to flood us anew with a fresh release of grace to remove anything that’s bringing death to us and return to our first love (Revelation 2:4-5).
To harvest what is ripe. Have you ever seen how farmers harvest olives from olive tree branches? The farmer drives a specialized machine up to an olive tree, and the machine deploys two large, padded bars that grip both sides of the tree trunk. Then, the machine unfurls a large fabric catcher that looks like a giant upside-down umbrella the size of a tree’s canopy. The trunk bars begin to shake the tree, and all the ripe fruit lets loose and falls into the catcher. Ingenious, really. When we’re shaken, we soon see how much of “ripe spiritual fruit” lets loose from within us. Do we see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23), or a complete nuclear meltdown of ungodly responses? You won’t know until you get a good shake.
To awaken. How do we awaken someone from a good snooze? Well, we can place our hand on their shoulder and gently stir them. It might require a couple of tries, but it usually works. However, if someone is nearly comatose in a deep sleep, we might have to leap onto them to awaken them from their slumber. (Beware of flailing appendages.) Similarly, most Christians need only a light shaking to awaken them from their spiritual slumber. Others, however, require a full body slam shake to restore them to spiritual alertness. No worries. The Father knows just how much agitation we need. A good shaking is a wake-up call to open our eyes (revelation), throw off the covers (things that comfort us and lull us to sleep), and rise (move to action).
To unify or mix together so it can no longer be separated. Oil and water don’t mix. But they will do so if we add an emulsifier. An emulsifier particle has two ends. One end of the particle is hydrophilic (water-friendly). The other end is hydrophobic (water-rejecting or oil-friendly). An emulsifier particle grabs water on one end and oil on the other end. Even though the water and oil don’t lose their characteristic properties, they will stay joined and suspended in the mix because of the drawing power of the emulsifier. That’s why egg yoke is often used in recipes requiring emulsification. So, too, a time of shaking can act as an emulsifier that brings opposing people together into a common bond or purpose. When life gets rough, even significant differences like denominational allegiances or theological viewpoints will be shelved for the sake of mutual support or even survival. The Ultimate Emulsifier is Jesus Himself because, through Him, Jew and Gentile are made into one new man, i.e., a group of reborn people as citizens in the Father’s kingdom. Even people from remarkably different cultures find common ground in their relationship with Jesus and their work toward the Father’s kingdom purposes.
I find it interesting that the Bible prophesies about an intense time of shaking just prior to Jesus’ return. “For those will be days of tribulation, the kind that hasn’t been from the beginning of creation, which God created, until now and never will be again” (Mark 13:19). Yes, the Great Tribulation will get nasty. But even then, it will serve a purpose – to shake up and shake out everything that is not firmly fixed on the One True God and His kingdom. The Great Tribulation could be renamed the Great Tremble-ation, a time in which only that which is of God will remain while everything else will be shaken loose and swept away.
Until that time comes, though, we’ll have plenty of shaking times, ordinary or Father-initiated. Let’s use those shakings to settle us on a firm foundation of trust in our God, for “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. It cannot be shaken; it remains forever” (Psalm 125:1)
Sources:
Bevere, John, The Bait of Satan
Shining the Light of God’s Truth on the Road Ahead
Pastor Jay Christianson
The Truth Barista, Frothy Thoughts