From Shaking to Shifting: Embracing God's New Season

Devotional

Day 1: God is Shaking Everything That Can Be Shaken

In this season, we are witnessing a profound shaking across the nations and in our personal lives. This is not a random occurrence but a divine process where God is sifting and shaking all that is unstable. The purpose is to shift things into alignment with His will and His kingdom agenda. While this can be unsettling, it is a necessary precursor to lasting change and acceleration. Trust that God is sovereign over every tremor. [01:09]

“At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ This phrase, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.” (Hebrews 12:26-27, ESV)

Reflection: As you observe the shaking in the world and perhaps in your own circumstances, what is one area where you feel God inviting you to trust His process rather than give in to fear or uncertainty?

Day 2: Looking Beyond the Natural to the Spiritual

The events we see in the natural realm are often the result of a deeper spiritual conflict. Principalities and powers influence nations and governments, and what appears as a delay or a problem may actually be God dealing with these spiritual forces. Our perspective must be shaped by spiritual discernment, not merely by natural observation or public opinion. This understanding allows us to pray with authority and hope. [06:05]

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been primarily viewing a challenging situation through a natural lens, and how might praying with spiritual discernment change your perspective and your prayers?

Day 3: Embracing the New Thing God is Doing

God is actively doing a new thing in the earth and in our lives. This new season is not a distant hope but something that is springing forth now. It requires a shift in our expectation and our language from what was to what is to come. He promises to make a way even in the most barren and transitional places, providing rivers in the desert for those who trust Him. [11:08]

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19, ESV)

Reflection: What is one ‘new thing’ you are believing God for in this season, and how can you actively shift your words and attitude from remembrance of the past to expectation for the future?

Day 4: The Grace Available in Transition

The wilderness of transition is not meant to be a permanent dwelling place but a journey toward promise. The key to navigating this season well is found in the grace of God, which is always available to strengthen and sustain us. This grace is accessed through a right heart attitude and words that align with God’s promises, not with the frustration of the journey. His name is John, meaning grace, for such a time as this. [24:31]

“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9, ESV)

Reflection: In what area of your transition are you most tempted to complain or become discouraged, and how can you consciously receive God’s sufficient grace for that specific weakness today?

Day 5: Ceasing the Prolonged Sayings

God desires to put an end to the negative proverbs and sayings we repeat over our lives and nations—words that declare delay and failure. He is acting to make these faithless words cease by bringing His promises to pass. We cooperate with Him by choosing to speak in agreement with His word and His timing, trusting that what He has declared will indeed be performed. [47:50]

“Say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: None of my words will be delayed any longer, but the word that I speak will be performed, declares the Lord God.’” (Ezekiel 12:28, ESV)

Reflection: What is one specific, faithless saying you have repeated about your life or a situation that you can now, by faith, replace with a declaration of God’s promise?

Sermon Summary

A new season arrives characterized first by sifting and shaking, then by clear shifting and swift acceleration. Nations and events will not simply follow public narratives; unseen spiritual dynamics will drive much of what appears in the natural. God deals with demonic strongholds and political principalities so that regimes can be dismantled and people liberated. Biblical patterns—Exodus’ plagues, Daniel’s angelic conflicts, and Matthew’s casting out of demons—illustrate that heaven often acts in the spirit realm before signs fully manifest on earth.

Isaiah 43:19 frames the season: God promises to do a new thing that will spring forth now and make a way in the wilderness. Transition looks like dryness and delay, yet it serves as preparation for acceleration and conquest. John the Baptist functions as a type for transition: born in the wilderness to prepare a way, his name—“John,” tied to grace—teaches that grace accompanies seasons of passage. Words and attitudes prove decisive in transition; Israel’s forty-year wandering resulted from wrong speech and stony hearts, not divine forgetfulness.

The prophetic responsibility includes naming and mourning rightly, but also refusing to rehearse former wounds. Remembering past oppression or rehearsing old failures prolongs the wilderness. God calls for a change of language: stop speaking proverbs of delay, cooperate with covenant rights, and petition legally before the throne through the blood. When heaven casts out the demonic, multitudes marvel and the old sayings lose power.

Finally, the season issues a demand: move from complaining into covenant cooperation, from rehearsing failures into thanksgiving and declaration. Grace flows in transition for those who guard their words, align attitude with promise, and call forth the new season with expectancy. The outcome promises visible national and personal shifts—so obvious that marveling will focus attention back to God and not merely to mortal leaders.

Key Takeaways

1. Shaking precedes a sovereign shift Shaking functions as God’s preparatory sifting: removal of what will not endure so a new order can rise. Expect initial instability that exposes hidden roots and realigns structures. Faith in the “shaking” reframes anxiety into discernment, seeing God’s hand behind disruption. [01:09]
2. Spiritual rulers govern earthly events Political upheaval often reflects warfare in the unseen realm against principalities and powers. Biblical examples show angels and demonic ranks affecting nations before natural change appears. Prayer and spiritual engagement target those root rulers rather than merely reacting to visible symptoms. [05:09]
3. Grace navigates the wilderness Transition does not mean abandonment; grace mediates provision and direction through the dry places. John the Baptist symbolizes a grace-enabled forerunner who prepares the way without claiming the inheritance. Embrace grace as the means to endure and expect rivers in the desert—God supplies during passage. [24:31]
4. Quit rehearsing the former things Repeating past hurts or proclaiming delay gives voice to the very proverbs that bind the journey. Scripture commands remembering not the former things so that the new can appear without being sabotaged by stale language. Change words, adopt thanksgiving, and refuse to narrate captivity; that obedience shortens the wilderness. [27:02]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:36] - Sifting: the shaking
[01:09] - Shifting and acceleration
[03:04] - Miraculous national shifts
[05:09] - Spiritual principalities and politics
[10:08] - Isaiah 43:19: a new thing
[15:46] - Wilderness: transition explained
[22:05] - John the Baptist: forerunner of grace
[27:02] - Remember not the former things
[42:09] - Ezekiel: stop the proverb of delay
[51:02] - Prayer, declaration, and release

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
Isaiah 43:19 (ESV)
“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Observation questions

According to Isaiah 43:19, what two actions does God promise to do in the wilderness or desert?
In the sermon, what biblical examples were given to show that God often works in the spiritual realm before changes are seen in the natural? [04:03]
What does the name “John” mean, and why was it significant for the season of transition? [24:31]
What specific instruction does God give regarding “the former things” in Isaiah 43:18?

Interpretation questions

Why might God allow a season of “shaking” or wilderness before bringing acceleration or breakthrough?
How does the story of Daniel’s prayer being delayed by spiritual forces (Daniel 10) help explain why certain national or personal breakthroughs seem slow in coming? [05:09]
In what ways can rehearsing past hurts or failures prolong a wilderness experience, according to the message? [27:02]
How does grace function during times of transition, and why is it essential for moving forward?

Application questions

What is one area of your life where you’ve felt “stuck” in transition or wilderness? How can you intentionally shift your words and attitude to align with God’s promise of a “new thing”?
Are there past disappointments or hurts you repeatedly talk about or rehearse? What would it look like this week to “remember not the former things” and instead speak thanksgiving and declaration over that area? [29:22]
How can you more intentionally use your covenant rights in prayer—appealing to the blood of Jesus and God’s promises—when you bring requests before God? [46:22]
In what current situation (personal, familial, or national) are you tempted to believe the “proverb of delay” (e.g., “This will never change” or “It’s taking too long”)? How can you change your language to agree with God’s timing and purpose? [39:49]
Where do you need to rely on God’s grace most right now to navigate a dry or challenging season? How can you receive and walk in that grace practically this week?
What specific “new thing” are you believing God for? How can you actively maintain expectancy and hope, even when you don’t yet see the full manifestation?

Sermon Clips

56s

#WatchYourWords

“Israel's journey only should have taken, some historians, theologians say, just a few days. It took them forty years because they kept wandering with their words. They kept saying, God, you aren't. God, you didn't. Lord, when? And they had a stinking attitude, and it caused them to be so stiff neck and rebellious. Wrong words, wrong attitudes will keep you in transition. It's not supposed to keep you there. It's to bring you to your promised land. So watch what you say. Watch your attitude. Well, I sure hope so. Or, boy, I hate this place. But there's something that is available in transition, and the Lord is changing my message again. Go to Luke chapter one.”

58s

#RiversOfGrace

“I'll make a way in the wilderness, and I'll make rivers in the desert. In other words, I'll supply. I'll I'll do something that is so Matthew nine thirty three. There's gonna be rivers in the desert. I've never so seen that before. Oh, really? Look at Luke one verse 60. His, his name shall be called John. You know what the name John means? Grace. Grace is always available. Whether you're Iran, about to be with Cuba, Venezuela, there is grace to carry you into your new season. But the reason why some people don't ever experience grace, because they get their mouth wrong and start calling it Zechariah. They call it the wrong thing.”

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Hank and Brenda Kunneman This sermon · AI assistant

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