I recently read a passage from Hebrews 12 about shaking and asked the people I was speaking to if they had noticed any shaking going on around them. Everyone nodded affirmatively. Hebrews 12:25-28 tells us something about the shaking.
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.
Job 38:13 indicates that shaking affects the wicked, Hebrews tells us that our kingdom cannot be shaken. There is another verse that mentions shaking that I’d like to turn inside out for you. Many people are familiar with Luke 6:38.
Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.
I’ve frequently heard Luke 6:38 read in relation to offering time. The focus on the verse was always with me as the recipient. If I give in the offering, God is faithful to give back to me. I always saw myself as the recipient and never really thought much about where the “measured back to you” was coming from. One morning I read this verse again and my eyes were opened to a new way of seeing it. I am surrounded by people whose lives can be described as “pressed down” and “shaken”.
Acts 20:35 reminds us of Jesus’ teaching, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” From now on when reading Luke 6:38 it is OK to look at yourself as the recipient, but also look at yourself as the means God can use to measure back. It truly is more blessed to give than receive. It is definitely preferable to be in a position where you have the means to be a blessing to someone else. That is what we should all strive for.