Shaking.

I keep hearing, reading, thinking..."Shaking."

Misty Edward's has a song that says 'I'm going to shake everything that can be shaken..' I was listening to that this morning- it stood out. I was laying in bed, and it was like those words, that song, was somehow distinct. Driving in to work- I kept hearing that- He is going to shake everything that can be shaken.

It wasn't in the front of my mind, but it was somehow in my thoughts all through the day.

Tonight, I am reading and I come across this:

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.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."

(Hebrews 12:26-29)

Hmmmm. Definitely a pattern, and patterns usually reveal He is saying something. Not only all this, but I am studying Romantic Poetry this quarter. Romantacism was wrapped up greatly in the concept of the "Sublime." The sublime was defined differently by different writers, but they all included a sense of awe, wonder, grandeur, power, something beyond understanding. The sublime is out of man's control- it's the thunderbolt, the waterfall. A flower is beautiful- it is small. Small is not sublime. Burke specifically discussed the God of the Old Testament, in all his power and fury as Sublime. The Sublime is the first moments after escaping death- that sheer terror of a rollercoaster or sky diving where you feel you might die, but then you don't.

I kept thinking in class of this story of Elijah, when he is running for his life from Jezebel,

The Lord said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by."
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper...."
(I Kings 19:11-12)

All this said, I keep hearing the words of power, "Shaking", awe, reverence...and I am convinced that He is about to shake things. He is already shaking things- I've been calling it "shuffling" but it is indeed a shaking right now in my life, and in several friends lives I know too. But I think this isn't the full extent, at all. I think He is announcing right now that He is coming to shake what can be shaken- and not to be fearful, but to rejoice, because our inheritance is a kingdom which cannot be shaken. And this shaking is going to allow the unshakeable "to remain."

I am truly excited- I am ready to worship Him in reverence and in awe for our God is a consuming fire!

I think Burke had a picture of the truth- if only he had realized that God is the Sublime, and the strength he sought to build through sublime experiences and withstanding great terrors really comes in full from the great I AM. There is nothing more terrifying, awe-inspiring, and incomprehensible than standing in His presence!

ps. I'm glad He's also a God of beauty, and that He loves the details. Not only is His presence terrifying, but His embrace is gentle, sweet, and strong- it touches every part of your heart and heals your every wound.

Aww, do I ever love Him! My anticipation builds....