Shake It Off

Do you ever want to just shake it off,

I’m talking about a bad situation?

We all go through situations that we wish we could just shake off and they would disappear. Unfortunately for the most part this doesn’t seem to happen very often. It could be a rebellious child, a negative person at work, a health issue etc… There are literally endless situations we wish we could just stand up and shake it off! In my blog photo today, you will notice my dog, Penny. She had just been swimming in Lake Michigan and after leaping through the waves, paused to shake off all the excess water. A simple gesture for a dog, but it started the wheels turning in my mind!

The following story will prove my point. There was an old donkey, wandering around the farm and fell into an old abandoned well. When the farmer found out what happened, he made a decision to ask some neighbors to help bury him.  He felt the donkey was too old and useless to warrant trying to hoist him out of the well. So he assembled his helpers and they began to dig. As shovelful after shovelful began falling on the donkey he began to shake it off! He then stepped on that dirt and he began to rise up in the well. He continued to shake off that dirt until he literally was able to walk right out of the well. I believe every time we can do this very same principle and shake off the doubts and fears we are facing, we also can step up and walk away victorious!

Smith Wigglesworth was a man with an incredible gift of faith. I love to read his sermons and testimonies, they have been a source of encouragement to me on countless occasions. He told this story of a dying woman he was asked to pray for. He asked two friends to go with him and they could join their faith together for this woman.  He was appalled as the first man began to pray that God would comfort the husband and motherless children when the woman died! The second man took up that same thought process. Smith could hardly wait for them to finish. He rushed to the woman and prayed that God would raise her up and heal her dying body. She was healed that very hour!! Smith said his friends were looking at the dying woman instead of looking at God. He literally shook off their unbelief and looked to the Lord Jesus to answer his prayer. How often do we view the circumstances that surround us instead of the God who has power to either change them or help us change our view of the circumstances?

The more we entertain worry, doubt and fear the farther we get from receiving help from the source of all help, our Lord Jesus.  He is able to direct us through the worst of storms and give us faith that can shake off the doubts that continually plague us. So let’s do what the donkey did and shake it off!!!