A former pastor, a giant among men, once correlated spiritual happenings with earthquakes. It was his contention that the shaking of the physical earth is a response to shaking in the spiritual realm. He probably was not far off. I am willing to take his word for it anyway.
My younger son-in-law, the Coast Guard officer and certifiable, Apple fanatic, was the last encouragement I needed to get an iPhone. It has been one of the better purchases I have ever made. I mention that because it has an app that displays all the recorded earthquakes that occur, or most of them anyway. I counted fifty earthquakes worldwide in the past two days. Yes, fifty, yesterday and today and it is just past 7:00 AM. Would that fulfill the definition of , "earthquakes in various places" that Jesus talked about in Matthew 24:7? To be fair, Luke adds the word "great" when he records what Jesus said and only a half dozen of those earthquakes were magnitude 5 or higher.
The Bible tells us that, "the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now." (Romans 8:22) This verse is part of the explanation of why the whole of creation is waiting for the revelation of the sons of God. (verse 19) Most of you who read this blog are relatively advanced in Christianity and spiritual life so we are not going to connect all the dots in this post for the sake of space. (Although I used to love dot to dot puzzles when I was younger.)
We have had a little shaking at the mission lately. I know it is anecdotal and personal, but it is shaking nonetheless. Our chaplain resigned suddenly, we had to let an intern go, and one of the men who had been doing well decided to return to the behavior for which he was sent to the recovery program. I am fairly confident the shaking is not over yet.
The last sizable earthquake we had in our area was just before Christmas in 2003. My son and I were the only ones home at the time. I probably should not admit this, but I sort of enjoy earthquakes. That is probably because I have never been in one that has thrown me around or caused anything to fall near me. This particular day, I felt the shaking and went to stand under a doorway, which I am now told is not the best idea. As I approached the door, Steve came from the other direction with the largest eyes I had ever seen and asked, "Was that an earthquake?" This little story illustrates that people respond to shaking in different ways. One thing is for sure though. The earth is not supposed to move under our feet. When it does it has every one's attention.
I work with recovering addicts. An addict almost invariably responds to shaking by revisiting his drug of choice. Of course that does nothing to stop the shaking, but the addictive soul believes that changing the body chemistry for some period of time will. Of course, in more lucid moments, they freely acknowledge they know it never works. Then again, for some, anything can be seen as shaking.
What would be the proper response to shaking? We have already acknowledged it gets our attention. The greater the shaking, the more our attention is drawn to it. The title of this post is intended to give a clue. When we are shaken, we need to be stirred as well. The response to anything God does should be to be stirred to some kind of action. What kind of action is determined by the kind of shaking. For instance, if the shaking involves the loss of a job or property or some relationship, the best course of action may not be to try and replace what we lost. We must first ask what God is trying to say now that He has our attention.
What God is trying to say will vary with the individual. Just to make an educated guess or two, He might be saying we had extra baggage we need to throw off so we are better able to run our race. (Hebrews 12:1) He might be attempting to show us where our weaknesses lie so that He can make us perfect with His strength. (2 Corinthians 12:7) The possible answers to that question are as many as there are people who are shaken. We are all shaken. The shaking does not come without reason. If you are feeling shaken, seek God as to the reasons for the shaking. Whatever the reasons, you can be sure the shaking comes to stir you to some kind of action.
Showing posts with label earthquake. Show all posts
Showing posts with label earthquake. Show all posts
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Sunday, June 28, 2009
A Sense of Destiny
Is it just me or is there something afoot in the spiritual realm? For the past couple or three weeks it seems every time I have the chance to ponder what is going on, I have a sense of something going on behind the scenes that I cannot quite put my finger on. It is as though something is approaching that will make an impact on the way things are in our lives. We pray it is something good and not something God will have to turn for good. Whichever way that goes, we know it will be an exciting, growth experience. Were we to take a guess, God is about to put the next step in place for our victory over the religious spirit we are battling.
Eight days ago there were two minor earthquakes in California in the same day. We say they were minor because neither of them caused any apparent damage and were not even considered newsworthy events. They were each in the 4 point range on the Richter Scale, but were in less populated areas. The only reason we even know about them is the first one hit almost exactly 5:30 AM and shook our bed. We looked it up on the internet and sure enough, it was the first of two that hit that day.
Pastor Jack Hayford says that when there are things happening in the spritual realm, they are often accompanied by seisimic activity. It is as though the creation is in travail, groaning with birth pains. (Romans 8:22) For the time being, we are pondering the earthquakes and being attentive to what the Spirit is saying and doing. We all know spiritual insight is sometimes better than at other times. It seems like something is happening, but the what of that is still hidden. In the meantime, we must be about our Father's business as best we can.
It seems almost daily some kind of distraction comes along that seeks to change our direction. Some of those things are minor and some not so much so. Taking a day to attend meetings at headquarters is a minor, expected distraction, but a distraction nonetheless. I certainly did not do much blogging that day although I did get home with some new material as stated in the previous post. We also had two sets of out of town guests and two one-time functions to attend this week. Those are good things, the kinds of things that add the variety and spice to life. There was also the distraction of a friend being admitted to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation after some kind of episode in which she trashed her apartment in the middle of the night. That kind of thing is not expected nor enjoyable. We have also been solicited for three business opportunities in the past few weeks. These are things that may or may not lead anywhere, but would definitely require some investment of time. We were close to losing our focus in each case and pursuing something that might have been good at the possible risk of not continuing to do what the Lord has called us to do.
I really never have liked the idea of destiny. It just sounds too much like someone has already planned out our destination and there is nothing we can do to avoid it. Where is the free will in that? I think I am learning that having a destiny is similar to a football player taking a kick off and trying to run it into the opposite end zone for a score. The goal is set before us. All we are trying to do is get there the best way we know how. Thankfully as Christians we do not have to get there the best way we know how. We have a coach high up in the sky, as it were, with a view of every obstacle to our success. It is He who can and will guide us moment by moment and step by step to our destiny. We have trouble seeing the goal line because of the monsters between us and it. (Still sticking with our football analogy here.) We have already shared in previous posts about some of the times we have been knocked off course. That is why it has taken so long for us to get to this place, wherever we actually are. The good news is, we are still standing! At this time we have a sense that our destiny is in the process of manifesting itself for good or for better. The battle is about to be joined in full force. We have been assured in our spirits of ultimate victory. It simply does not matter what comes between now and then. We are already winners. All of us are already winners. The battle set and we already know the outcome.
Eight days ago there were two minor earthquakes in California in the same day. We say they were minor because neither of them caused any apparent damage and were not even considered newsworthy events. They were each in the 4 point range on the Richter Scale, but were in less populated areas. The only reason we even know about them is the first one hit almost exactly 5:30 AM and shook our bed. We looked it up on the internet and sure enough, it was the first of two that hit that day.
Pastor Jack Hayford says that when there are things happening in the spritual realm, they are often accompanied by seisimic activity. It is as though the creation is in travail, groaning with birth pains. (Romans 8:22) For the time being, we are pondering the earthquakes and being attentive to what the Spirit is saying and doing. We all know spiritual insight is sometimes better than at other times. It seems like something is happening, but the what of that is still hidden. In the meantime, we must be about our Father's business as best we can.
It seems almost daily some kind of distraction comes along that seeks to change our direction. Some of those things are minor and some not so much so. Taking a day to attend meetings at headquarters is a minor, expected distraction, but a distraction nonetheless. I certainly did not do much blogging that day although I did get home with some new material as stated in the previous post. We also had two sets of out of town guests and two one-time functions to attend this week. Those are good things, the kinds of things that add the variety and spice to life. There was also the distraction of a friend being admitted to the hospital for a psychiatric evaluation after some kind of episode in which she trashed her apartment in the middle of the night. That kind of thing is not expected nor enjoyable. We have also been solicited for three business opportunities in the past few weeks. These are things that may or may not lead anywhere, but would definitely require some investment of time. We were close to losing our focus in each case and pursuing something that might have been good at the possible risk of not continuing to do what the Lord has called us to do.
I really never have liked the idea of destiny. It just sounds too much like someone has already planned out our destination and there is nothing we can do to avoid it. Where is the free will in that? I think I am learning that having a destiny is similar to a football player taking a kick off and trying to run it into the opposite end zone for a score. The goal is set before us. All we are trying to do is get there the best way we know how. Thankfully as Christians we do not have to get there the best way we know how. We have a coach high up in the sky, as it were, with a view of every obstacle to our success. It is He who can and will guide us moment by moment and step by step to our destiny. We have trouble seeing the goal line because of the monsters between us and it. (Still sticking with our football analogy here.) We have already shared in previous posts about some of the times we have been knocked off course. That is why it has taken so long for us to get to this place, wherever we actually are. The good news is, we are still standing! At this time we have a sense that our destiny is in the process of manifesting itself for good or for better. The battle is about to be joined in full force. We have been assured in our spirits of ultimate victory. It simply does not matter what comes between now and then. We are already winners. All of us are already winners. The battle set and we already know the outcome.
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