26 Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. 27 And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Hebrews 12:26,27

We don’t realize how special we are to God. We don’t fully appreciate how He is at work in our lives 24/7/365 tweaking us,  teaching us, loving us, molding us, shaping us, conforming us, and even singeing us till we reach our expected end – when we become full-fledged sons and daughters who look like him, talk like him, and act like him.

He accomplishes this through many means:

• Guidance through His word (Rhema, illumination, revelation of scripture). When we get that flash of insight as to how this scripture applies to our life.
• Other believers, preachers, teachers, prophets, and angels who guide, goad, and sometimes rebuke us.
• Sometimes He puts obstacles in our way which force us to take the necessary detours.
• Finally God shakes us up.

During the shaking it seems our world is falling apart and God is far from us. Sickness, financial strain, issues with our marriage, our children.  The car breaks down or the roof leaks. Someone we love dies, etc.

It may not seem obvious to us that God is at work in our lives. We make a bad decision such as buying a  house we can ill afford, quitting one job for a better one, taking a short cut home from church then all hell breaks loose.

Here is an example of a decision gone bad. In 1st Chronicles 21:15, King David decides to take a  census of Israel. David had been warned against doing so by his commander, Joab – not a particularly spiritual person –  but the king goes ahead. This decision by David leads to the death of tens of thousands of innocent men, women, and children.

God shook David, but he didn’t destroy him. If we look at  Psalm 30, we see that God’s chastisement of the king was not with out effect.  Certain ungodly attributes of David were shake out and destroyed. He was shaken that only his God-like characteristics might remain. Psalm 30 shows the following transformations:

• Psalm 30: 6,7  Self-sufficiency was shaken out so that faith and reliance upon God remained
• Psalm 30: 9-11 Pride was shaken out so that humility before God and man remained
• Psalm 30: 12  Self glorification shaken out that sincere praise and gratitude remains.

When God shakes it seems that our world is falling apart, but He shakes only that the true you remains. The real, unshakable  you which remains is a man or woman who manifests the fruit of the Spirit. Not clones, but  unique, individual expressions/reflections of the divine.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: Galatians 5:22,23

And knowing this, let us welcome and rejoice in the shaking when it comes – and it is coming.  But don’t despair. When the shaking comes we should remember what David said in Psalm 30: 5:

For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning