Shaken

Have you ever had a friend or family member call you up and share a circumstance or situation out of their life that has left them shaken? 

SHAKEN. RESTLESS. CONFUSED. ANXIOUS.

As you listen to them share the details you also may not know how to respond. You can tell by their countenance that the experience feels as though what was under their feet felt solid is now shifting sand. What was true may feel like the rug being pulled right beneath them. 
Recently several people very close to me have become shaken. The future is unclear and questionable. Making plans seems difficult. Difficulty and heartache is unavoidable. So heart wrenching the very problem feels like a prison.

Sleepless nights

White knuckles

Tightness in your chest

High blood pressure

Appetite gone…


Can you relate?

Dear friend, if you feel this, maybe this is for you.
Sometimes we are attacked by the enemy. This is true and can be found clearly recorded in scripture to help us to be vigilant and aware that we have an enemy and to keep reverence for Jesus Christ.  

But sometimes the things swirling around us is God shaking the foundations to wake us up, to get our attention and re-align us to his will.

If you can remember in Acts 16, Paul and Silas went to Macedonia, being led by the spirit of God through a God given vision. Once there he cast out a spirit of divination from of a slave girl and this was not well received by her owners because they used her to make money.

Paul and Silas were thrown in jail. Not only were they in jail but verse 24 says their feet were fastened in stocks. Paul and Silas had no natural power to get out. Instead of complaining, they recognized through the vision that God brought them there. Time and again their experiences taught them they could trust God and that as God led them to their next assignment whatever unfolded He had them.

Instead of wasting a good jail cell they began praying and singing praises to God. Check out this next part.

“And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone’s bonds were unfastened.” – Acts 16:26

Have you become complacent in your faith?

Have you become comfortable in the daily on-goings that you are not honoring God with full and complete focus on him?
Do you go along with cultural popular opinion even when it doesn’t align with scripture and the words of God found in the Holy Bible?
Are you just checking a box in relation to church, small groups, and other church traditions?
Has your love for Jesus Christ and un-saved people grown cold?
If this is you, God loves you too much to leave you in the land of mediocre. 

It is quite possible that what you are experiencing is God shaking the foundation of your idols and fake gods to reveal the true foundation of His Steadfast Love for YOU. 
That He is trying to get your attention. That He will not be satisfied with a lukewarm faith. That He has something so important and good for you that He needs to knock you out of your lazy-boy chair. That he cares more about the condition of your heart than He cares for your comfort.

Yes my friend, it is possible and likely. The beautiful thing is, when God shakes the foundation He reveals himself, He aligns people back to his perfect will, He opens the closed doors and He breaks the shackles your feet were bound in.

In the above account of Paul and Silas, He not only freed Paul and Silas, but the slave girl was freed, the jailer was restore and it says ALL THE DOORS were opened and EVERYONE’s bonds were unfastened. There was nothing left undone. ALL and EVERYONE is significant in the text. Don’t miss it my friend. This is what Paul and Silas knew and why they could praise God in jail – they knew his character.

I hope you evaluate your relationship with God, and you will desire to know his character.

If this is you, if this writing bears witness and stirs your spirit you can also know his character. You can confess your complacency to God, repent and move forward with a restored faith for where and what God has for you.