GOD CAN DO IT AGAIN
Isaiah had had enough. Israel sunk so low that the prophet said it was like they were never called by His name. They were invaded. The sanctuary was rubble. Their morals were erased. Things were at an all-time low.
How the prophet prays now makes him sound hysterical:
“Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence - as fire burns brushwood, as fire causes water to boil - to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence! When You did awesome things for which we did not look, You came down, the mountains shook at Your presence” (Isaiah 64:1-3).
Wait, what? Tear the skies apart? Make the mountains quake? Make the whole world tremble because of Your presence?
Sure, a normal person would do that, but not me. I am going to do the opposite.
You might call it revival derangement syndrome. That mindset where your heart is so broken by the evil around you that you cannot pray a normal prayer. You can’t find a righteous soul, so you scream at God to scare the tar out of everybody.
Because this is so extreme, unbalanced, and abnormal that decent people would warn you against it.
Sure, a normal person would do that, but not me. I am going to do the opposite. If I get my way, you will be hopelessly consumed by a passion for an awakening.
First of all, we must repent of the most dangerous sin of the modern church - subconscious unbelief about revival. The unspoken assumption that our culture is too far gone.
Of course, to do that we will have to admit that the majority of our church life is created to compensate for the lack of revival. A.W. Tozer said, “The church can only be in one of three conditions, Rut, Rot, or Revival.”
And our programs do not even consider the possibility of revival. Revival would be the perfect undoing of them. It is a frightening thought to realize that the very thing that would do the nation the most good would do Christian activities the most harm.
We think that revival came in better times to better people.
Indeed, our only hope is to repent of this horrendous unbelief. Then, and only then, can we embrace the truth about revival from the Bible.
Not only is it unbelief, but it is also an inferiority complex. We think that revival came in better times to better people. We also tend to think there was a brownout in heaven. That God must have some kind of power outage going on.
But here are two verses that tell us why that is impossible - because God does not change.
Malachi 3:6, “I am the LORD, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed.”
In spite of all the things we see in our culture, revival is not only possible - but in some strange ways - all these things are conducive to revival.
Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
In fact, it was the truth of God’s unchanging nature that convinced Habakkuk to ask God to do it again:
Habakkuk 3:2, “I have heard all about You, LORD. I am filled with awe by Your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as You did in years gone by. And in Your anger, remember Your mercy.”
But there is something wonderful hidden in Habakkuk’s words: “In this time of our deep need.”
In spite of all the things we see in our culture, revival is not only possible - but in some strange ways - all these things are conducive to revival.
And no one ever said it better than David, “It is time for You to act, O LORD, For they have regarded Your Law as void” (Psalm 119:126).
Not only is revival the best thing - it is now the only thing. I don’t only believe it is possible, I believe it is coming!
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