“You Can Survive The Shaking”
Acts 16:25-26 (MSG)
25 Along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God. The other prisoners couldn’t believe their ears.
26 Then, without warning, a huge earthquake! The jailhouse tottered, every door flew open, all the prisoners were loose.
I have faced all types of events that have shook me and caused me to wonder, why me. If you are honest, you probably have had the same or similar feelings. Sometimes life just happens it things surprise us.
There will be times in each of our lives when we will face challenges that will shake your foundation. But I have good news that you can survive it!
Observation 1: You Must Remain Engaged!
Vs. 25 along about midnight, Paul and Silas were at prayer and singing a robust hymn to God.
Paul and Silas realized that they had to stay engaged in their course. In order to stay encouraged, they had to engage their energy and focus their faith in God.
There were some things that they expected to happen but there were somethings that they did not see coming.
They were misunderstood and ridiculed for doing the work of the Lord. This tells me that at any given time in our lives, we will experience something that has the ability to push us over the edge. But make a determination that you will stand on God’s word.
If He allowed it to happen, He has given you the grace to withstand it! Philippians 4:6 (KJV) 6 be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
How do you respond when something happens that shakes you to your core that you don’t expect?
Remain engaged in the process and don’t lose your focus. Don’t get anxious and do something that you may regret later. Remember that nothing can happen to you until your assignment is completed.
Paul and Silas teaches us that you must keep a song and prayer in your heart. Don’t lose heart because the Lord wants to make you stronger and wiser so you will know how to handle the shaking when it comes.
Observation 2: The Shaking Will Validate Your Assignment!
The early scene of chapter 16 displays that God was using Paul and Silas to spread the Gospel but they ran into a problem. They experienced a young slave girl who was possessed by a python spirit. A python spirit is cultural in many ways because it is self-centered, unholy behavior, and is polytheistic. (This is the act of worshiping more than one god)
There is an undercurrent that is moving in the earth that reflects this type of spirit. God wants you to be aware that there will be people who are assigned to your life that will validate your anointing.
Your job is to be aware and go through with the right attitude. Go through knowing that trouble does not last always. Go through with the expectation that God will keep you in the midst of your shaking. He will bring you out alright. You may experience hardships, you may experience a feeling of hopelessness but don’t give up.
The more trouble that you may be experiencing, mean’s that you are on God’s agenda. Some of us have gone through some crazy things over the last few years and some have experienced something within the last few days.
God wants to validate the fact that you are His and He wants to get the glory out of your life. Let the shaking spur you forward and not go back to bad habits or negative talk. Talk to the Lord and He will hear your voice and He will hasten to your call. You have to learn how to elevate your praise in middle of the shaking that you are experiencing.
Observation 3: The Shaking Is Only Temporary!
We must come to the realization that we have to go through things to get us to the next place in God. Sooner or later you are going to come out of what you are going through. Many times, shaking comes to remove things that we have allowed to attach itself to us. It’s time for some of us to start shaking somethings off in the natural and in the spirit.
The bible says in Job 2:2 And the LORD said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the LORD, "From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it." This tells me that your shaking will only last for a little while because Satan is not omnipresent like God. The Bible gives us assurance in Ps 41. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
God already has you in mind and nothing can touch you unless He allows it to happen. God is going to reveal those with a python spirit to you so you can strategically remove them from your life. Every source of irritation, those who are against you, God is going to cause you to overpower their plots and you shall conquer it.
Some have gone through somethings that you did not think you would be able to overcome but it was the power of the Holy Ghost that enabled you.
Isa. 40, 28 Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
When you’re midnight seasons come, sing a song that will get you through your time of trouble. Pray a prayer that will get God’s attention. The chains that have held you down are going to be released when you stay engaged. Stay focused, allow the shaking to validate your assignment but embrace the fact that it was only temporary.
The shaking is going to bring you to a season of release. It’s going to release another level of God’s presence. Sometimes the shaking makes room for the new thing that God is preparing for you. After the shaking, God will allow you to see clearer, He will shake your foundation so that you will believe that He is real and he has a purpose for your life.
The shaking will keep you from harming yourself and keeping you focused on what is ahead. God will reveal Himself in ways that you would least expect! So expect God to move on your behalf.
If you are feeling down, Ps 30:5b says “weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.”
Ps. 37:23-24 The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; 24 though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
Have faith that God is going to keep you while you go through, but also have faith that He is going to bring you out!
