By: Jordan Schaeffer, Spiritual Discovery Pastor
We don’t have to look far to see how heavy life can feel. Whether it’s the struggles we carry personally, the pain we see in our country, or the brokenness unfolding across the world, it can sometimes feel like everything around us is shaking. And maybe for you, that shaking feels close to home: changes you didn’t expect, questions you can’t quite answer, or burdens you don’t know how to carry.
But here’s the good news: in Scripture, shaking is never wasted. God often uses it to get our attention, to clear away what cannot last, and to prepare us for what He’s about to do next. Even in the midst of darkness and uncertainty, He is working to bring about something new.
Shaking is often God’s way of getting our attention, clearing away what can’t remain, and preparing us for what He’s about to do next.
Shaking isn’t always a sign of destruction. Often, it’s a sign of God’s presence, His movement, His new work beginning.
And today, I want to remind us: We should do nothing apart from Him. And in seasons of shaking, that truth becomes clearer than ever.
Here’s the thing: If we miss what God’s doing in the shaking, we’ll miss what He wants to build after it. When we look at Scripture, we see that shaking is never wasted. God doesn’t shake things just to make His people uncomfortable. He shakes to awaken, to remove what can’t stay, and to prepare us for what’s ahead. The same God who allowed the shaking in our lives and in this ministry has a pattern of using it as a setup for renewal, breakthrough, and fresh direction. If we want to align with Him for what He’s about to do, it helps to see how He’s worked through shaking before, because His patterns in the past can help us posture ourselves for the present.
So what can we learn from the biblical shakings of the past, to encourage us to stand firm in the shakings of the present? Let’s take a look at a few moments of shaking and the lessons I see in them:
- Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:18) – The mountain trembles as God comes down to call His people into a covenant.
- Lesson: God shakes to remind us He is holy and to reestablish our relationship with Him as first priority.
- Jonathan’s Battle (1 Samuel 14:15) – God sends an earthquake to throw the Philistines into confusion, bringing victory.
- Lesson: Shaking shifts the battle from our strength to His power.
- Jesus’ Death & Resurrection (Matthew 27:51–28:2) – The shaking tears the temple veil and rolls away the stone.
- Lesson: God shakes to remove barriers and open the way for new life.
- Paul & Silas in Prison (Acts 16:26) – Midnight worship leads to an earthquake that opens doors and breaks chains.
- Lesson: Shaking often comes when God is about to release freedom.
- Early Church Prayer (Acts 4:31) – The place is shaken, and believers are filled with boldness.
- Lesson: Shaking positions us to be filled, empowered, and sent.
Hebrews 12:26–27 says: “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.”
The shaking we’ve felt in this past season has been removing what can’t carry us into the future—old ways, unhealthy patterns, misplaced reliance. And here’s the truth: before we lead others into the practices of God, we must first live in them ourselves. We can do a lot relying on our natural abilities, but we get natural results. We end up with frustration, tiredness, numbness. We begin to sleep walk through the greatest calling of our lives. The calling of simply being followers of Jesus and the invite to be his hands and feet to hurting people around us.
So the next step is not simply “returning to normal.” That step is realignment:
- Return to our first love (Revelation 2:4) making intimacy with Jesus our starting point, not just ministry for Jesus.
- Prioritize spiritual practices personally: prayer, scripture, Sabbath, fasting, generosity, so that what we offer to others comes from overflow, not exhaustion.
- Move only at His word (John 15:5), resisting the urge to sprint ahead with good ideas without first asking, “Lord, is this you?”
- Stay in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:25), letting His pace and direction guide us.
- Pray with expectancy (Acts 4:31), believing that the God who shakes rooms can still shake our city.
Legacy team, the shaking wasn’t just something we went through. It was something God allowed so He could prepare us.
Start in the quiet place, before the school drop-off, before the meeting space, before the conversations. Do nothing apart from Him, and let what He deposits in you spill naturally into others.
If we respond with surrender, alignment, and obedience, what comes next could be our most Spirit-filled season yet! So here’s our call today: Don’t rebuild on the old foundation. Let God reset the ground under your feet.