Why Is God Shaking Up Our World?

"See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, 'Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.' Now this, 'yet once more,' indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire."

Hebrews 12:25-29

Some of us have gone through horrible situations in our lives and no doubt, have asked, “Why?” I have gone through many horrible situations physically—being in the hospital numerous times because of various health issues. In the past, I have also asked, “Why?” And that’s a good question. But if we don’t want to hear the answer, then that’s a bad thing. Sometimes we need to ask the question, but we also need to listen to God for His answers. When I look at the news and see our world on fire, when I look at the Middle East and the sin that is there, it seems as if things are absolutely coming undone. But, I honestly believe that there is more sin here in our nation than overseas. When I look at the millions of unborn babies that our nation has killed, and that our country is the largest producer of pornography and alcohol, I realize that we are not a blameless nation. And then I think about the Church and how we have to push and beg and plead for people to walk with God—sometimes it gets tiring. At times, we feel like saying, “Forget it. I don’t want to do it anymore.” But we have to keep doing it because God keeps doing it. Our God is a jealous God. He has a great jealousy for you and me. God will not let us get complacent and compromise our lives or even slip a little bit. God is going to give us a wake-up call. We may not like it, but in the end, we’re going to realize and thank God, for that wake-up call. Thank God that His mercy has kept us in the game and that He has held us together. And so, we give God the praise and glory. God does shake and God does move and it doesn't mean that we’re immune from that. He does it with our spouses…with all of us.

So why is God shaking our world? A while back, it was reported in the news that thirty-six countries and fifty major cities were on fire. In Pakistan, fourteen people were killed by the police due to rioting. London, the United Kingdom, Amsterdam, Belgium, Paris and France were on fire with all kinds of upheaval going on. Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Jerusalem, Gaza, and Jordan were also on fire with all kinds of unrest taking place. Let’s not forget Turkey, Africa, Libya, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria, Somalia, and many more countries that were on fire. People are going crazy; there is a huge rebellion going on. We look at that and think, “Well, thank God it’s over there.” No, it’s coming here quicker than we think and there is no way that we’re going to be able to be ready or to protect ourselves, because we don’t understand. We watch the events on television and we just don’t know what to think or do—we’re afraid.

Well, I do have one answer for us. The next time we vote during the elections, we should not vote as a Democrat or a Republican. We need to be like Joshua in the Old Testament. Joshua walked out one day and saw this angel and asked, “Are you for us or against us?” And the angel answered, “I’m not for you and I’m not for them, I’m for God.” (Joshua 5:13-14 paraphrased) That’s what we need to understand. The next time we vote, we need to take the Bible into the voting booth and then ask ourselves before God, which candidate holds true to the value of this Book? If we do that, we might be able to redeem what God has given us. If not, it’s over. We need to begin praying every day for our nation. After that, we can accept whatever God does. But we’re not going to sit back and do nothing. We’re going to look to God; we’re going to seek God; and we’re going to pray to God. And then we’re going to vote as God would have us vote.