The Problem with Shaken, Not Stirred...

I have to say it...

I love it when God 'speaks' to me with a sense of humor.
He's so funny... sometimes it's when I am so not laughing... 
but sometimes He just cracks me up.

He's good at that... using humor to lighten you up just before giving a one-two punch of Truth to get your full attention!

Does He do that with you?

He knows I love to laugh.

Laughing is my favorite and Joy is my OneWord this year and sometimes... well - sometimes He wakes me up in the middle of the night and whispers the craziest things!

On Saturday night I fell asleep praying about what to pray into the next day at church.  One of my favorite 'jobs' has been praying at the end of our worship at Dad's House.  I sometimes have a Scripture or an idea in mind, but usually God interrupts my worship and changes my direction come Sunday morning. So I have learned to plan with my hands and heart wide open. 

I'm good with that, because I want to pray His heart into the people and release whatever it is that HE wants released...

I woke up hearing the word "Dry" in my spirit.

I don't know about you... but for us? After a long hard season, I could see how Dry could be an appropriate description.

But then He went on to whisper to my heart something about how many in the Body are like how James Bond orders a drink... (Shaken, not stirred.) but how we are called to be the opposite. (Stirred, but not shaken!)

See? He can be funny!  

And yet... oh my goodness, there is so much truth in that, right?

Many have felt shaken in this past season.  Many have let fear, doubt, and unbelief sneak back in and we have felt the hits just keep coming and oh my --how we have felt SHAKEN! 

We have felt unsure and unsteady and gun shy... 
We have felt hesitant and timid and weary...

However, this should not be so.

We are called to be STIRRED... but not shaken!

Now is the season to stir up the gifts within us... to remind ourselves of who we are and to be intentional in living that out everyday in the most natural (and supernatural) ways!

Paul encouraged Timothy in 2 Tim 1:6 to stir up the gifts... and I believe God is encouraging us all today to continue on and do the same! 

I love how it reads in The Passion Translation:

" I’m writing to encourage you to fan into a flame and rekindle the fire of the spiritual gift God imparted to you..."

 Now is NOT the time to be shaken...

On Sunday morning, right before I rose to pray... we were singing, Build My Life.

Some of the lyrics:

"I will build my life upon Your love

It is a firm foundation

I will put my trust in You alone

And I will not be shaken..."

Now is not the time to be shaken...

Now is the time to be stirred up, fired up, prayed up...

Now is the time to let go and let God...

Now is the time to follow His lead...
even into the unknown.

Let's purpose to not let fear push us around, or hold us back, or shake us up... but instead, let's be intentional in being stirred up and released to be and do what He has gifted us and called us to!

Paul goes on to tell Timothy in 2 Tim 1:7 that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives us mighty power, love, and self-control!

"For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline." 2 Tim 1:7 NASB

And I keep hearing, Rise Up!

Rise Up, my friends!
Now is the time!



Photo's courtesy of various artists on Unsplash

I'm also linking up with the lovely writer community linked below:

LORI SCHUMAKER FOR #MOMENTSOFHOPE

ANITA OJEDA for #InspireMeMondays