A child desperately wanted a new high-tech gadget. He had heard about it from older friends. He begged and pleaded his parents for the gadget to no avail. He cried for it, promised he be good forever if he got it, and offered to give up other possessions if necessary. Still the parents did not yield. Why? Were they mean? Unloving? Hateful? Unresponsive? Insensitive to his requests? No. The truth was that the child was not yet mature enough to properly benefit from the gadget. Sound familiar? We hear of revival and we pray to God to let us experience it. Sometimes we beg and plead for revival. We make promises to God if we can just experience revival. We offer to give up things if revival will just happen. And yet no revival comes. Why? Is God mean, unloving, hateful, unresponsive, and insensitive? No. The problem is not with God, who longs to send revival. The problem is often with believers whose stewardship level is not yet mature enough to properly handle the blessings and responsibilities of heaven-sent revival. If we don’t know what to do with revival when it comes, God will not send it, just because we want it and ask for it.
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Thank you indeed for your posts. It helps me a lot for I have prayed for revival and God replied with Hebrews 12:26,27 "Once more I will shake not only the earth..." I went with praying and I asked Him " Where is your shaking and how long it will take?" He answered with Ezek. 37. I read it and though I do not see what is taking place I believe that the Holy Spirit is at work. On the 1st Jan. 2015 while in night prayer for the end of the year the voice said to me that Jesus is coming- Rev. 22:20. Pray for me to be ready for what is coming to my country. Revival by what means?, Your post helps me to wait for God to act in His time and my part is to remain in His love-Jesus -John 15:7
I appreciate so much your posts. I am praying to let Him have all of me, so our dear Potter can fashion the clay of my life, so I may become the vessel that can be used for His good pleasure...
Perhaps God is reviving communities and churches a little at a time, person by person, as they yield to Him. Our God is certainly not confined to our limited views of revival that often expect something big and stupendous. Perhaps we need to spend more time and prayer to help grow believers so that revival simply happens as we become more filled with the Spirit.
Excellent word! I often wrestle with a "romanticized" vision of revival. It's easy to imagine God turning the hearts of many toward faith in Jesus Christ- and it's exciting to imagine Him doing so! Who doesn't want to see Him do this? But I'm sobered when I consider the added labor of prayer and discipleship that we'll be responsible for when God brings this. God will be glorified when He brings revival, but the responsibility of training up young and new Christians to live Biblically will rest on us. He will not allow immature followers to beget other immature followers. That will not bring Him the glory due His name. Lord, prepare me, please!
What a sensible and sobering article. We need to consider more deeply the "stewardship responsibilities" connected to revival. Is that something like "counting the cost?" I fear we are just wanting what we want when we want it and you've helped lift my thoughts higher on the subject. As one said, "I want to pause and calmly think on that."
Brilliant and succinct!
I often teach on this when I do A Solemn Assembly. In fact I caught the anger of a few pastors recently because I said, "God isn't interested in fixing Washington DC until He fixes us..." I'm doing an April Fool's Day message this Sunday which I believe will follow the same suit except that I am bothered, burdened, by Isaiah 22, especially verses 9-13 where, if I liken it to our elections, God is saying, "Y'all see the problems, so you do this, and you do that, and you work on this, and you work on that, BUT, (the middle of verse 11), 'you did not depend on Him.'" The passage then goes on, and I believe that the application is too close to miss, verse 12, God has been calling us to deep spiritual repentance (but we are only interested in shallow repentance), and so, whichever party wins in November, verse 13 will be seen, "Instead there is gaiety and gladness..." In other words, celebrating INSTEAD OF what God is calling us to do.
Blessings Bro. Dan.