Thomas D.

Midgette

Contributing Writer

Thomas D. Midgette is a registered voter, a concerned citizen, and a devoted husband and father. He is active in his church. Mr. Midgette is licensed and registered to practice Land Surveying in Virginia and North Carolina. His interests include walking, swimming, and reading. He also respects and loves animals and the natural world.

More from Thomas D Midgette

When God Shakes Things

A very troubled Elijah went into a cave, and the word of the Lord came to him saying, “What are you doing here Elijah?” Elijah then began to explain to the Lord how difficult his life was.

This is how the Lord responded, He sent a great and strong wind which tore into the mountain, breaking the rocks into pieces. Then He sent an earthquake. Then He sent a fire.

Nowhere in the text do we see or hear that any of it frightened Elijah. Elijah never expresses any surprise or excitement about what God just did. He does not become unsettled. He is not moved. He does not run away or respond to these displays of God’s power with any outward expressions.

Afterward, the Lord speaks again in a still small voice and says, “What are you doing here Elijah?” (1 Kings 19:8-13 So he got up and ate and drank, and the food gave him enough strength to travel forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai,* the mountain of God. There he came to a cave, where he spent the night.The LORD Speaks to ElijahBut the LORD said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" Elijah replied, "I have zealously served the LORD God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too." "Go out and stand before me on the mountain," the LORD told him. And as Elijah stood there, the LORD passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And a voice said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) )

Can the tearing of rocks from a mountain be done without a great clamor? Can an earthquake occur without a great shaking taking place? Can a sudden fire burn from nothing nearby without causing a stir? Yet Elijah is unmoved.

I have been through several shakings in my life from God and I have never managed it well. Sometimes my anxieties go through the roof. Sometimes I react with anger or an increasingly smaller faith.

Often when I am going to go to work somewhere, I will pick up my work shoes and turn them over and shake them roughly. I am getting ready to go to work in them and I don’t want anything to be in them that will distract me from my purpose, so I shake them, often more than once.

God is shaking our world today. We are learning to do without. Perhaps our anxieties are flaring up and our minds are burdened with many fears, like the disciples on the sea rowing their little boat and terrified that at any moment they are going to drown; but Jesus is just walking. He is just walking!

He does not rush to their rescue; He does not make a big fuss over them or their hapless situation. He just walks into their lives and tells them not to be afraid (Matthew 14:22-27 Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o'clock in the morning* Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, "It's a ghost!" But Jesus spoke to them at once. "Don't be afraid," he said. "Take courage. I am here!*" OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) ); and to the world around them He says, “Peace, be still.”

God must shake things, and we will see Him do so increasingly in the days ahead. The only thing that will not shake, when God shakes things, is His presence within us. And for that reason, we can focus more quickly and more precisely upon it.

At that point, we become shoes worth wearing as He takes us to do His will, whether it is in the mountains or on the sea.