Hello and welcome back to Grace For my Home. I am so glad to be back here with you again this week. I hope that your week has been going well and that you have seen the Lord's hand on you and on your family this week, and I am just thankful for these last two weeks that I'll be homeschooling my son after this school year. He'll be going to public school and he's asked me not to say any more than I'm going to miss him because apparently I've said it too much, but I really am going to miss him. I just can't tell him that anymore. But I'm getting him registered for school and doing all of those things and that's exciting. I know he's excited and I'm I'm a little nervous for him, but I know he'll be fine. I have two other sons older than him who have made the same transition and and they have done great. So I know he'll be fine, but I sure will miss him. But besides that, our coffee shop is going well.
Audrey McCracken:
My husband and I are planning a trip together just the two of us for our anniversary this summer. I'm really looking forward to that. We're going to go up to the mountains of North Carolina, so not a long trip. It's just a few hours. Even by driving it's about four hours. But I just look forward to having that time alone with him. But we are doing well and, like I said, very thankful that the Lord's hand is on us. You know his hand is on us even when we don't feel it or we're not aware of it. But it's so much sweeter when we recognize his hand on us and we can have that fellowship with him at all times. But it's just, there's something about you know, recognizing, taking a minute to say Lord, I know you're with us, I know you're with us and I want to talk with you this week about the shaking.
Audrey McCracken:
There is a shaking that the Bible talks about and we all go through it. There's no escaping it. The Bible says that it rains on the just and the unjust, and that is so true. One of the biggest questions that people ask is why does bad things happen to good people? Well, the truth is, bad things happen to all people and good things happen to all people, whether they recognize it or not.
Audrey McCracken:
But there is a shaking that it talks about this in Hebrews. I want to read it for you out of the Bible, hebrews 12, starting in verse 26. It says this, and his voice shook the earth then. 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. This expression, yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we have a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe. So he's saying here that there is a shaking and it shows, after the shaking, those things that can remain, those things that are eternal, are the things that remain standing, but the things that are not eternal, that are temporary, those are the things that are shaken away. And a lot of times we don't recognize the things that are eternal until we go through that shaking. And, guys, I don't like the shaking, but it happens to all of us. There are seasons in our lives when things are shaken to the very core and it hurts. It hurts because God gets down to the very core of how we're made up and what we're standing on and what we're focusing on.
Audrey McCracken:
You know, jesus said at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. He preached this whole sermon and at the very end he said there were two men. One built his house on the rock, on a firm foundation, and the other built his house on sand. And the storm came and the wind blew and the floods rose and the man who built his house on the sand, that house fell with a great crash. But the man who built his house on the rock was still standing after the storm. And he ends by saying if you hear my words, you know he just preached a sermon. And he says if you hear my words and you put them into practice, then you will be like this man who built his house on the rock and he is our foundation. Jesus is our firm foundation.
Audrey McCracken:
And when we build our house on the rock doesn't mean we're not going to go through shakings, doesn't mean we're not going to go through storms. Doesn't mean we're not going to go through storms. It just means if we build our house on the rock and we stand on him and we stand on his word, then after the shaking we will still be standing. But if we did not build our house on the rock, if we build our house on the things that are not permanent, on the temporary things that can be shaken and that will be shaken. Then, after the storm, we will be washed away with those things that are not eternal, and God does not want that for us. He wants us to stand on him, to stand on the rock, to stand on truth, to be firm and immovable when the storms of life come in in, because they're going to come. That's one of those promises. You know. It says it rains on the just and the unjust. So during the times when it's not shaking, that's the time to firm up our foundation, because when it does shake, there's not time to prepare. There. That's the time when God reveals those things which are important and not important, those things that are eternal and those things that are temporal. So I want to talk with you today about the shaking.
Audrey McCracken:
You know, a lot of times we'll refer to the book of Job, which is a wonderful book when it comes to the trials and the things that happen in our lives and trying to make some kind of meaning from them. It says in the book of Job that there was a conversation going on in heaven between God and Satan and God said look at my servant, job. There's nobody like him. He is a righteous man. And Satan, the enemy, said of course he obeys you. You give him everything he wants. You know, let me touch him, let me shake him up, and he'll curse you. He won't stand. And so my paraphrase the Lord said give it your best shot.
Audrey McCracken:
And Job was solid. He took a huge shaking. He lost everything in this world that he could lose, but he remained faithful. And he remained faithful by faith. You know, he hoped against hope. He believed when there really didn't seem like a reason to believe. He did not curse God the way that his wife encouraged him to do. He held on to his faith and he said my Redeemer lives and one day I will see him. And so Job was tested to the utmost and he held on.
Audrey McCracken:
But there's something about Job, that story, that has always gotten under my skin, and I think it's that partly that he didn't know what was happening. You know, god didn't tell him, he didn't let him in on the conversation that was going on in heaven. He just knows one day everything broke loose in his life, everything fell apart, everything shook and he never got the why. And God never set him down. I had a conversation with him and said Joe, good job, look what happened. And you stood the test. He just had to trust that. I don't know why this is happening, but I trust God. And, guys, that is faith, that's raw faith, that's real faith. That's raw faith. That's real faith. That's hard faith, but faith pleases God. You know there's a scripture in Job that says though he slay me, I will serve him.
Audrey McCracken:
And there are times in our lives when things happen we don't know why we don't see the big picture, we don't understand the conversations picture, we don't understand the conversations that are going on in heaven and it feels like, it looks like God is not kind, god is not loving, god is not here and against hope. We have to hope, we have to believe that he is good, he is kind, he is here, he is involved, he does care. And that is standing on the rock in the middle of the storm. And, guys, I don't pretend to know everything you've gone, you're going through. I don't pretend to to have been shaken in all the areas where you're being shaken or where you have been shaken, but I can tell you that the areas where I have been shaken and at the time I thought I was dying and I thought, you know, if God loved me, if and so many questions come up if God loved me, why? Why do I have to go through this road? Why did this have to happen? I still don't know. But I do know that he is patient and he is kind. I do know that his tender mercies are new every morning. I do know that the sun does come out in the morning, that there is weeping for the night but there's joy in the morning. And I can't make you believe that, but I can encourage you to believe that. And God wants you to hold on during those times.
Audrey McCracken:
And I want to share with you some scriptures that have helped me in those times when my mind is saying where is God? Where did he go? Why am I going through this? The first one is Hebrews 13, 5. It says I will never leave you nor forsake you. The second is Matthew 28, 20. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. It's what Jesus said as he was about to ascend back to heaven. He said lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world. And the third is Jeremiah 31, 3. I have loved you with an everlasting love. I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
Audrey McCracken:
I have to stand on those scriptures, especially when I don't understand, especially when God seems unkind, I have to remind myself that he is patient and kind, that his loving kindness never fails and his tender mercies are new every morning. Because the enemy wants me to doubt his love, the enemy wants me to doubt his goodness and his care and his protection. So what do we do? The only thing we can do when it feels like everything around us is falling apart is to trust God. We stand by faith or we don't stand at all. Hebrews 11.1 says Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Now that word substance. If something has substance, it's real. You can touch it. Faith is the substance foundation, the solid ground. That's what faith is. It's more solid than anything in this world, and so, during these times when everything is being shaken, we can stand firm on faith. Faith and see people make faith out to be something mystical, something way out there somewhere. But faith is very real and it's very solid and it's very stable and it's a gift from God.
Audrey McCracken:
There are times when I have had to pray. Lord, you've got to give me faith. I don't have the faith, but I'm willing to have the faith if you will help me. And you know there's not a feeling involved, it's a trust. It's like a leap of faith. Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. And he answers that prayer.
Audrey McCracken:
You know Abraham was commended as one who trusts God and it was credited to him as righteousness. You know he could not be righteous in his own ability, in his own doing. None of us can. But when we trust God, when we put our trust in him, he credits that to us, to our account, as righteousness. He loves it when we trust him, when we trust him. That's our way of saying we believe, we love you and we're putting our eyes on you. And we're putting our eyes on you. And there is great reward in putting our eyes on Jesus and believing, even when it feels like everything's falling apart and he's nowhere to be seen. He's right there with you. He is the fourth man in the fire. He's right there with you. He is the fourth man in the fire. He's right there with you.
Audrey McCracken:
The last scripture that I want to share with you is Isaiah 7, 9. The last part of that scripture says if you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all. That's how we stand. We stand on faith. We stand on faith. We stand on trust. We stand on our belief that Jesus is on our side, that he will never leave us nor forsake us, that he cares about us and that he's very involved and that, even though we don't understand everything or the details, that he is trustworthy everything or the details that he is trustworthy. And that's how we make it through the storm, when it feels like all of the supports have been knocked out from under us and it we wonder does he see? Does he care? Does he know? Yes, he's right there with you and he cares and he loves you and he's going to help you get through this.
Audrey McCracken:
Years ago, there was a woman who found out that her husband was having an affair and she found out because he told her he was leaving her for this other woman and she loved the Lord and she prayed and trusted the Lord to put her, her home or family back together and it didn't happen and he ended up leaving her and marrying this other woman and and she was just devastated and she said that her greatest struggle after that was believing that God was good. She said the enemy came and tried to turn me against God and she said all I could do was just throw myself at his feet because he was all I had. He was all I had. My husband had left and if I didn't trust God, then I had nobody. And she said that's how I prayed.
Audrey McCracken:
Was Lord, I'm throwing myself at your feet and I want to be mad at you. I want to leave, I want to be angry because I feel like you know, you let this happen and and you didn't answer my prayer. And and now you know, I just, I don't even know where to turn. But if I don't turn to you, I don't know what I'll do. And sometimes we have to be like that Lord, I, I, I I'm going to serve you. Even it feels like, even if it feels like you've let me down and I'm going to trust that down the road, down the road, I'll understand one day, even if it's when I see you face to face. One day, I'll understand. I just want to leave you with that today. You know, if you're struggling, throw your arms around Jesus. Don't let go of him. Draw near him, don't draw from him and he will keep you through the storm. And one day you'll look back on these days and you'll say look how far God has brought me, look what he's done because he loves you so much. I want to pray with you before we go, father.
Audrey McCracken:
I pray today for my friends who are listening. I pray for hope. I pray for supernatural strength. I pray, lord, for faith, not our faith that we work up, but, lord, the faith of the Holy Spirit that lives in us. I pray, holy Spirit, that you would quicken us, that you would help us to trust beyond our feelings. And, lord, I pray for grace. I pray, lord, god, that whatever these ladies are struggling with or going through, that they would feel you as that very present help in time of trouble. And we thank you for it, lord. We thank you that we have a good father who cares about us and is touched with the feelings of our infirmities. In Jesus name, amen.
