"When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them,
and the sheep follow him because they know his voice" (John 10:4).
And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised,
saying, " Yet once more I will shake not only the earth,
but also the heaven." And this expression "Yet once more,"
denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken,
as of created things, in order that those things which cannot be shaken
may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken,
let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God
an acceptable service with reverence and awe;
for our God is a consuming fire(Hebrews 12:26-29).
In the verses quoted above we see first that the Lord's people know His voice, and because of this they follow Him. We might also deduct from this that we will be able to follow Him to the degree that we know His voice. We then see in the text from Hebrews that His voice shakes things. So if we are going to know His voice we are also going to know some shaking.
In such an insecure world, stability is much to be desired. However, if we seek stability and security above the truth, we may have ease for a time, but we will drift further from the Lord. Where the Lord is speaking, shaking is going on. If we want to follow Him we therefore need to learn not to seek security in the things of this world, which will all shake when He speaks. We must find our security only in the kingdom that cannot be shaken—the kingdom of God.
If we start to shake when the governments of this world shake, it only reveals the degree to which we have placed our trust in that which can be shaken. If we start to tremble when the stock market begins to shake, this reveals the degree to which we have placed our trust in the Stock Market instead of in the Lord. As the text in Hebrews reveals, everything that can be shaken will be shaken. This should not surprise us. Those who know the Lord's voice and are following Him should be accustomed to this shaking. How should we then relate to those things that are being shaken?
First, if we have built our lives on the kingdom that cannot be shaken, and our ground is firm when what is around us starts to shake, we are standing on solid ground so that we can pull others out of the quicksand. We were not saved just for ourselves. The Lord loves all men and desires for them to be saved. We must always reach out to those who are having troubles in order to help them. Every blessing, grace, and provision that we have is for the purpose of demonstrating the love of God that saved and provided for us.
In Revelation 11:15 we read, "And the seventh angel sounded; and there arose loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever." The Greek word that is translated "has become" seems to indicate a transformation. There are aspects of our government that I believe have been founded on kingdom principles, and these will remain after every shaking. Whenever any part of our government, economy, or culture drifts from its moorings to kingdom principles, the shaking that will ultimately come will be more drastic, and destructive. Even so, that which was built properly will remain through any shaking.
I have appreciated and enjoyed the prosperity we have had for the last few years, but I also tried to order my affairs not to depend on it. I have watched that as the time of prosperity has continued, people start appreciating their jobs less. The devotion to excellence has begun to suffer. A recession may be one of the healthiest things that could happen to our economy at this time, and we are indeed primed for it.
Before becoming a professional pilot, I worked for several years as a carpenter. I loved that trade, and was privileged to work with an old craftsman who built houses like Michelangelo painted. Once during a recession I remarked to him that I was concerned that many who were in our trade were about to lose their jobs. He looked at me with a scowl and replied, "No true carpenter has ever lost their job during a recession. A true carpenter will always have plenty of work." There is a profound truth to this. If we are doing everything that we do as unto the Lord, devoted to excellence and integrity, even in this shaky world we will be okay. However, even better than that, if we are following the Lamb wherever He goes, we too will say:
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ,
and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him
in every place (II Corinthians 2:14).
Think about it. If we are following Him we will always know victory. And our victories will not just be triumphs, they will manifest the knowledge of Him. This is why we are here.