The revival I've discovered here in Morgantown is not the one I had pictured. I have found that revival is painful. It is an encounter with a God who is a consuming fire, whose glory by its very nature devours everything standing between Him and His beloved. When we invite consuming fire into our midst, we are not inviting comfort and peace--we are offering ourselves up to be burned. We are inviting the Holy Spirit to tear and dig and break us apart, just so we can know Him. We are stepping out of safety and into naked territory where we don't know what He might devour next, but we keep our trembling hands and hearts open to Him, and with faltering steps we keep walking deeper into His glory, because we know that His love is better than our lives.
“Come, let us return to the Lord;
for He has torn us, that He may heal us;
He has struck us down, and He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us;
on the third day He will raise us up,
that we may live before Him.
Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
His going out is sure as the dawn;
He will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth.” (Hosea 6:1-3)
This sort of revival cuts deeper than I would have liked. It jeopardizes my possessions, my agenda, my time, and my dignity. I'd rather not be torn, but if Jesus would tear me so that He can heal me, let me be torn! My flesh cringes at the thought of being struck down, but if the glory of God strikes me down so that the mercy of God can bind me up, then let me be struck down! Let's not be satisfied with a comfortable knowledge of God, Christian. Let us know, let us press on through this pain and fear to know the Lord and His devastating love. He won't leave us here torn and bloodied; He will come as surely as the dawn and the rain. Let me be broken in every way I can be broken if it means I can know Christ better. Let my hands be open for Him to take everything I have and want if it will achieve for me an eternal weight of glory.
I always thought that revival would be the sort of event that interrupts one's daily routine, shoving people into a sort of out-of-body, out-of-time experience and displacing our everyday commitments to things like food and class schedules. Yes, I feel ready to abandon my schedule and just roam the streets proclaiming Christ, but I have been surprised to find myself embraced by the gentle whisper, "Just be faithful. I'll guide you moment by moment." I am finding that revival doesn't take me out of daily life; it transforms my daily life. Revival moves in like a hurricane, breaking and dissolving my will until there's nothing left but Jesus--and Jesus tells me to be faithful, keep a quiet heart, and do the simple, small things He's called me to. He wants to receive glory from all of me; not just the flashy, dramatic, extraordinary parts, but also the mundane, ordinary parts that no one sees but Him. He wants to revive all of it--break it all down and build it up to honor Him.
Let us be sober, Christian, when we pray for revival. We are not asking for anything but to die. We are asking to be devoured and then brought back to life. The most sobering part about it is that we see in vivid, heartbreaking clarity that this very glory which now consumes our flesh is the glory that consumed Christ so that we, after we have been burned, can truly live. Please pray for the Lord's Bride here in Morgantown. Many are pressing on to know the Lord, and at greatest expense. He is reviving us, but it hurts--both because our flesh is being destroyed, and because the enemy is attacking what threatens his domain. It is all an instrument of revival, though, and I pray that we have the courage to press ever deeper into God's glory. I have, after all, prayed for His glory to revive His people; is it any wonder that I am wounded by that glory? We cannot pray to see the Kingdom of God without surrendering to the blessing of the poor in spirit.
No comments:
Post a Comment