Last Monday, we gathered with neighbors on a point overlooking Table Rock Lake to watch crews set off explosives to drop the last sections of the Long Creek bridge. The noise and impact were noticeable even from more distant parts of the lake, but since our neighborhood is close by, we felt a considerable shake underfoot as the blast happened.
Some people, maybe visiting the area or just not aware of the bridge project, jumped on social media to ask what had happened. Our group was not frightened, though; we were expecting the explosion as something that needed to happen in order to have a new bridge. It wasn’t a problem; it was part of something bigger and better.
When the first section was dropped a couple of weeks ago, I was not able to be lakeside and did not know the exact time or how it would feel, so when the blast rattled dishes and shook the house, I jumped and my cat shot into the air. Still, I wasn’t frightened, because something had been promised.
The bridge incidents reminded me of recently studying Acts 4:31, “After they had prayed, their meeting place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.” (BSB)
After Jesus ascended to heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to empower his followers to begin sharing the Gospel. As the number of believers and miracles increased, the religious leaders were not happy, and the apostles Peter and John were arrested, questioned and threatened. Upon their release, they returned to the group of believers gathered for prayer.
Did they pray for protection from further opposition? No. They prayed for boldness to continue speaking the Word. Likely they remembered Jesus telling them they would experience trouble, yet they held fast to his promises and his command to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). And when they prayed for boldness, the shaking happened. Were they frightened? No; this confirmed that the Holy Spirit was present and active, stirring them to even more teaching and preaching. Shaking wasn’t a problem because it was part of something bigger.
Not all shaking comes from a good source. Had that explosion happened when MoDOT was not at work, it would have indicated something terribly wrong. Jesus spoke of that, too, in Matthew 7:24–27. When that bridge fell, I was glad to be standing on a solid rocky point. In Jesus’ analogy, the house built on solid rock—His Word—stood firm even in the storm, while a house built on easily shifting sand—not attentive to the Word—did not.
Shaking, whether literal or figurative, can remind us to turn to Jesus and his strength. We can pray expectantly, like those early believers, and feel the Holy Spirit’s response as we move ahead in obedience. We can also expect storms that try to shake us from our foundation, but if our hope and purpose are anchored in God’s Word, we will stand firm.
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