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The Bible teaches that God's thoughts are nothing like ours. It also tells us that His ways are drastically different from ours (Isaiah 55:8). And not just that, His ways and thoughts are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:9). We also know that He can do whatever He likes. He's called the "Sovereign Lord" for a reason, after all.
Therefore, it should be no surprise that He can stir up the spirit of an individual to do what He wants. God has been known to have people do things they never imagined and there are countless testimonies to this fact. For instance, the Lord might give someone a word of knowledge about another person's life. And that information proves to be exactly what is needed to solve a problem that has dragged on for a long time.
God can equally stir individuals to do what He needs. In Haggai, the Lord stirred His people to restore His temple. Haggai 1:14 - So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua son of Jozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God. On this occasion, He stirred up the entire population to work together for His great purpose. And once that happened, the work began. Seeing how the people submitted to Him, God made them a promise - to take them from insufficiency to abundance (Haggai 2).
As believers, we should be willing to be stirred by the Lord to achieve His goals here on the earth. And when His stirring comes upon us, we should not resist. To prepare for this, we should take seriously the word in Matthew 6:33 - Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need (NLT). We should be consistently walking with God in obedience, being led by His Spirit. That way, we will move with little to no hesitation, hurrying to obey Him the way Philip ran to catch the Ethiopian's chariot when instructed in Acts 8.
Just as God can also stir up the spirit of men for good things, He can stir up people to bring His punishment. For instance, the Lord warned the Israelites to stop worshiping false gods and get back to honoring Him alone. They disobeyed for four hundred centuries and became wicked. Murders were rampant and justice was non-existent. The Lord stirred up various nations to take them into captivity. The final straw came when He sent King Nebuchadnezzar as the instrument of His punishment. By then, all that remained was the city of Jerusalem under King Zedekiah. Nebuchadnezzar broke the city's walls, destroyed the temple, plucked out Zedekiah's eyes and marched the survivors to Babylon.
This should be a warning to each of us. God loves us and yes His mercies endure forever. However, if we abuse His grace and kindness by flagrantly ignoring His word, a time may come when He stirs up the hearts of people or institutions against us. We cannot afford to become the very wicked whom He has repeatedly said He detests and will punish. We must not be like the people of Jerusalem who hated the word of Prophet Jeremiah whom God sent to repeatedly warn them to change. We must turn away from the behavior He despises and let Him transform us.
The Lord wants to stir us up so we are equipped with what we need to serve Him. He wants to stir up our spirits so that we are fashioned into temples for His dwelling. It is better to be stirred up for His purpose than to be the one He stirs others against. May the Lord stir up our spirits for His glory and our good, IJMN, Amen.
1 Thessalonians 5:24 - The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
