A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

Life is hard. There's no getting around it. We stub our toes, face betrayal, endure heartache, and navigate relationships that disappoint us. From the minor frustrations of hitting every red light when we're running late to the devastating losses that shake us to our core, we live in a world that is fundamentally broken.

This brokenness isn't new. It traces back to the very beginning, to a garden where harmony once existed between God, humanity, and all of creation. When our first parents chose their own way over God's way, everything changed. Their rebellion introduced disorder and chaos into the fabric of existence. Everything was shaken—society, our bodies, our souls, our relationships. Everything.

The impact of that cosmic rebellion touches our lives in at least three distinct ways. First, there's our personal sin—the ways we ourselves disobey God and fall into foolish, self-destructive patterns. Second, there's the sin of others—the oppression, persecution, injustice, and harm that people inflict upon us. And third, there's the general brokenness of creation itself—the sickness, pain, and death that exist simply because we live in a fallen world.

We experience these realities in both monumental and mundane ways every single day. We truly live in the ruins of a shaken world.

Three Truths for Shaken Lives
Yet into this reality comes a powerful message from the book of Hebrews, written to people who were experiencing tremendous hardship—insult, persecution, imprisonment, even the legal confiscation of their property. These were people who knew struggle intimately. And to them, God offered three profound truths that apply just as powerfully to our lives today.

1. God Is Showing You Love
The first truth seems almost counterintuitive: when you're in the middle of struggle, God is showing you love.

Hebrews 12:5-6 reminds us: "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as a son."

This is a radical reframing of hardship. It's easy to feel God's love when things are going well—when we get the promotion, when the relationship is thriving, when our health is good. But what about when we're in pain? What about when everything seems to be falling apart?

God wants us to recognize His fatherly love precisely in those moments of struggle. Just as a good earthly father disciplines his children not out of anger but out of love, so our heavenly Father allows us to experience hardship as a form of loving discipline and training.

Think about it: if you're never experiencing any difficulty, any resistance, any challenge—that might actually be cause for concern. What children are not disciplined by their father? Discipline is a sign of relationship, of belonging, of being treated as a true son or daughter.

The struggle you're facing right now? That's not God punishing you. That's God loving you.

2. God Is Making You Holy
The second truth builds on the first: God is making you holy through your struggles.

Hebrews 12:10 tells us that God "disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness." This is the purpose behind the pain—not just to correct us, but to transform us into people who reflect God's character.

Here's the thing: God is more interested in your holiness than your happiness.

Our culture constantly teaches us to make decisions based on happiness. "How could it be wrong if it feels so right?" we're told. But happiness is not a reliable guide for decision-making. Esau discovered this when he sold his birthright for a single meal. He was hungry—experiencing real, physical discomfort—and he chose immediate gratification over his long-term inheritance. He chose happiness over holiness, and he couldn't undo that decision later, even with tears.

God's definition of "good" for us isn't wealth, comfort, or ease. What's good for us is holiness—experiencing and embodying the character of God Himself. God doesn't need our holiness; He has all the holiness He could ever want. But He wants to share His holiness with us, to let us experience what He created us for: goodness, love, compassion, truth, gladness, faithfulness.

The beautiful truth is that through faith in Jesus, when God looks at us, He already sees us as holy and righteous. That's our justification. But He doesn't stop there. He wants to transform our day-to-day lives, helping us grow in practical holiness. That's sanctification.

Hebrews 12:14 urges us to "make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy—without holiness no one will see the Lord." This requires effort, resistance against ungodly influences, and rejection of the sins our culture celebrates. It's like spiritual exercise—not easy, but essential for growth.

When you're experiencing trials, God is training you. He's using those sit-ups of the soul to make you stronger, more mature, more like Him.

3. God Is Offering You Joy
The third truth is perhaps the most surprising: in the midst of your struggle, God is offering you joy.

Hebrews 12 presents us with a choice between two mountains. The first is Mount Sinai—a mountain of fear, darkness, gloom, and terror. This represents approaching God through the law, through our own efforts, viewing our trials as punishment for our failures.

The second is Mount Zion—the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God, where thousands of angels gather in joyful assembly, where the names of believers are written in heaven, where Jesus serves as the mediator of a new covenant. This is the mountain of grace, where Christ has paid it all.

When we're in the middle of a trial, we have a choice. We can view our struggle as God punishing us—that's the mountain of fear. Or we can see it as loving discipline from a Father who wants relationship with us, who wants our holiness, who wants our ultimate joy—that's the mountain of grace.

The only path from punishment and fear to joy runs through Jesus. He's the one whose sprinkled blood "speaks a better word" than any other sacrifice.

The Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken
Consider the first Palm Sunday, when Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The crowds welcomed Him with palm branches and shouts of "Hosanna!" They thought their suffering was about to end, that this king would make life easy.

But within a week, many of those same voices were shouting, "Crucify Him!" Why? Because they realized His mission wasn't to eliminate their current suffering but to die. They couldn't see that God was doing something far greater than they imagined—making salvation available to everyone who would believe. They chose fear over joy and missed the miracle happening right in front of them.

How often do we do the same?

Hebrews 12:26-28 contains this promise: "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens... Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe."

God is shaking out everything that won't remain—the unholiness, the faithlessness, the unbelief, all the things we don't need. What remains is a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and we are part of it.

Living in the Unshakeable
When you leave this moment and enter back into your life, you will face some kind of struggle. Something won't go right. A relationship will disappoint you. Your body will hurt. Plans will fall through.

In that moment, remember these three truths: God is showing you love, God is making you holy, and God is offering you joy.

Your circumstances may not improve. But your heart, your spirit, your hope in eternal life—these can experience the reality of things that cannot be shaken. Because that's what God is doing. That's what He has promised.

We have a Savior who went before us, who lived perfectly, who embraced the Father's love even when it meant going to the cross, who embraced holiness even while being tempted in every way, who embraced joy even while dying, crying out, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

In Christ, we have everything we need to live this way through our trials, through our struggles, through our tribulations.

The struggle is real. But so is the kingdom that cannot be shaken.