REPOST Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, written by Pastor Sam Lee who leads Catalyst Agape Church in Northern New Jersey, was first posted on October 20, 2013.  He is a graduate of University of Wisconsin (BA) and Biblical Theological Seminary (M.Div.).

Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend

“The Shaking of God”

Exodus 20:18-21

When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”  20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.” 21 The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. 

What an opportunity for the people of God!  In the book of Exodus, God said when the ram’s horn sounded a long blast, everyone had an opportunity to go up the mountain of God (Ex. 19:13). The people heard the trumpet, but at the same time, they saw and heard the thunder, lightning, mountain shaking, and the dark cloud. It was time to encounter God, but what they saw and heard made them too afraid to approach the mountain of God, thus Israel rejected God’s invitation.

Great encounter with God requires great risk. People need to know that real encounter with God is not just business as usual. It is much riskier than hearing a good message on a Sunday. A real encounter with God is scary because there needs to be change and transformation; you cannot remain the same when you encounter God. 

People who sincerely seek after God and want to see Him move more in their life is not afraid to have their life radically changed. Those who hunger after God’s presence are not afraid to go through the shaking, lightning, and the dark cloud. The spiritual earthquake that God brings will shake everything in your life; all the things that should not be standing, all idols in your life, all the things that are false and weak, God wants to bring it all down. This kind of shaking from God is not to expose you, nor to crush you, but to transform and strengthen your life.

The trumpet is sounding. Let’s go up to the mountain of God together!

Prayer: Lord, help me to change even if it shakes everything that has provided comfort and security to me.  Amen.

Bible Reading for Today: 2 Corinthians 6-7