The more I watched on TV the aftermath of typhoon Ondoy, the more heartbroken I become for the victims. Such tragedy. Such pain. Such lost. And then the tsunami in Samoan Island (169 reported dead) and the earthquake in Indonesia (1,100 perished at the time of this writing), are painful reminders that life on earth is very fragile, that in this life there is no guarantee that we’ll be free from any calamity. If not typhoons, earthquakes or tsunamis there may be something else. Everything, just like that, can be swept away! That’s why we’re not to put our hope in this world and the things of the world.

In this life there is no guarantee that we’ll be free from any calamity…

Isaiah 24:18Isaiah 24:18
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
18 And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake.  

WP-Bible pluginb-20, “The floodgates of the heavens are opened, the foundations of the earth shake. The earth is broken up, the earth is split asunder, the earth is thoroughly shaken. The earth reels like a drunkard, it sways like a hut in the wind; so heavy upon it is the guilt of rebellion that it falls – never to rise again.” That’s a decisive prophecy that this world is going to totter on its foundations someday and collapse as we know it; and it will be over.

Before the end comes, God has appointed that this great final shaking be preceded by smaller earthquakes and other calamities to give notice of something awesome, the way contractions and labor pains precede the birth of a child and tell us that it’s coming (Matt. 24:7-8Matt. 24:7-8
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows.  

WP-Bible plugin). Why birth-pangs? What does it mean? It means that there will be an increasing frequency of these things as the end comes near and that the intensity of them will increase — because that’s the way it happens with labor pains before a birth.

If you ask, “Why should God ordain that there be an increasing frequency and intensity of calamities toward the end of the age, as the Lord draws near?” Well again consider a woman having labor pains. The labor pains warn a mother and father to get ready and go to a safe place to have the baby. God means to give birth-pangs to the world so that the world wakes up and knows something is about to happen. This is mercy with all the tragedy that there is in all the calamities of the world. It’s the loud, clear voice of a holy God saying ‘Get ready there is a shaking coming that will leave no house standing, no building standing, no place to stand but the throne.

Shakable things will be removed and replaced by the unshakable… (Read also 1 John 2:171 John 2:17
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.  

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Divine shaking separates the shakable from the unshakable (read Heb. 12:25-29Heb. 12:25-29
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: ²⁶ Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. ²⁷ And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. are shaken: or, may be shaken ²⁸ Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: let…: or, let us hold fast ²⁹ For our God is a consuming fire.  

WP-Bible plugin). When God shakes the world, people will know what things will last, what will not. Shakable things will be removed and replaced by the unshakable (Read also 1 John 2:171 John 2:17
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.  

WP-Bible plugin). Divine shaking intends to bring to an end the worldly system to bring about the kingdom rule of Christ. Again and again He is shaking people to awake to the reality of the instability of this world — to turn their eyes on that which is eternal and find hope – Jesus Christ and His Word!

Beloved, no guarantees here on earth, but in Christ we are guaranteed eternal life. There are only three things that are eternal: God, His Word and man’s soul. The soul that sins shall die but the soul redeemed by His blood is safe and secure forever!