Putting in the Effort
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
For me, it’s revival season. Because of where I live, our area is surrounded by little churches like mine and the summer always brings a list of revivals I can attend. I’d rather be among God’s people than anywhere else on earth. It’s one of my very favorite things to do, and far better than spending a night watching mindless tv. But, revivals are far more than a night of worship and fellowship. They are an opportunity. An opportunity to draw closer to our Lord, to learn more about Him, to reach out to those who haven’t met Him. As with any opportunity, it’s up to us to capitalize on what is available. Sure, we have to put in a little effort, but I’ve never come home from a night of revival and thought, I wish I’d stayed home. I have many times heard of God’s incredible grace and power to move hearts and thought, “Man, I wish I’d been there!”
Revival - I remember learning greek and latin roots in elementary and junior high, and that ‘re’ means to go back or return. A quick search tells us that the latin root ‘viv’ means life, alive, lively. The Latin Suffix ‘al’ indicates havng the form or character of. So, revival means 'having the form or character of returning to life’. That indicates that we were “more alive” and we need to return to that state of ‘liveliness’ In the spiritual world having a revival usually means reconnecting with God or connecting with God on a deeper level. We hope that we see lost souls saved at our revivals, but what we need to concentrate on first is reconnecting and mending our relationship with God. If the people in the church are in a right relationship with the Lord, the lost will see what we have and easily recognize the difference between a life lived for Christ and their own life. If, instead, we come to revival hoping for a lost soul to be saved in order to renew our relationship with God, we may leave disappointed.
The word is full of examples of times that the children of God needed to turn back to Him, to renew that relationship. And it was always proceeded by those same children, failing to keep that relationship as strong as they should. Many times, the Israelites had to find themselves in desperate situations to turn back to God. God called to them continually to return to Him, sometimes they were willing, other times they were not. Sometimes they pushed the one true God aside in favor of a lifeless idol to the point that God allowed hard times that woke them from their slumber.
Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God, For you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Hosea 14:1
One of the first steps to a revival that is real and lasting is realizing that we need one. We, as in each one of us. I need to realize that I need to experience revival, you need to realize that you need to experience revival. We, as humans, don’t necessary enjoy admitting that we need help, or that we’re wrong. That’s where the Holy Spirit steps in. I know that in the weeks and months leading up to my own personal time of revival, I was increasingly aware that things were not exactly right between me and God. Although, I was secure in my salvation experience, I was aware that my spiritual life was lacking. It took a while for me, after that, to proceed to what I see as the next step. I began to seek after God. Asking, in prayer, for the Lord to bring back the joy of my salvation. Initially, that was the sum of my prayer. Eventually, out of desperation, I began to ask God to reveal my shortcomings. That’s another thing, that’s hard for people to do. To humble ourselves, even as Christians, and ask the Lord to show us our faults, our failures. When we reach a point at which we are willing to really search our hearts, He is faithful.
Let us examine and probe our ways, And let us return to the Lord. Lamentations 3:40
Maintaining a close relationship with the Lord has never been about Him. He is willing, are you? Are you willing to take a hard look at yourself through God’s eyes? When we get to that point, the Lord can begin to do marvelous things. When we are willing to tear down the idols we’ve built for ourselves, He can again take His rightful place of preeminance in our lives. Revival season is here. Are you ready to be revived?
