I’ve been thinking quite a bit on how much I have to be thankful for. I have caught myself thinking about the changes that have happened in my life over the past thirteen years and can’t imagine still being the same person I used to be. It might be the holiday season that’s creeping, at lightning speed, upon us (10 weeks till Christmas!), but maybe it’s something more. Perhaps it’s everything going on in the world that has us cringing… maybe it’s that we have people in positions of power that keep trying to pass off wrongs as rights… or maybe it’s just the fact that each day we have to make a deliberate choice to either walk in the darkness of the world or the light of God’s goodness.
Going to the grocery store where we live, I always see people I know; from church, former co-workers, and some people who were once my clients or patients… all sprinkled among many I don’t know. There are so many of these trips to the store in which I walk away amazed at how unhappy people (known and unknown) seem to be. I was raised with a bit of southern hospitality, military manners, and a moral compass based on God’s Word. It’s so difficult to enjoy grocery shopping when many of the faces looking back at you are filled with so much sadness and defeat.
I remember the days in which people smiled at each other, making eye contact, when they passed you in the produce section; when you made the move to avoid a collision and said “excuse me,” with a smile, instead of charging forward, expecting the other person to yield the right of way. Is this merely a serious decline in common courtesy? Or is this something else entirely? There are times when projecting positivity can seem more like a chore than a reflex. When I get into these slumps, it’s so easy to say, “It’s okay, Bru… wallow for a bit. You need some time; you deserve it…” But, unlike who I was 13 years ago, I don’t agree with that little voice speaking from the dark recesses of my mind.
If you’re not aware of this yet, I love to soak in praise and worship music. I casually peruse YouTube all the time for new songs or new versions of old favorites. Okay, fine – there are some stations I flat out stalk, but this wasn’t one of them. I stumbled across this artist when I saw a video, “My Soul Sings”, in my sidebar as a suggested view. Hmmm… Sure, why not? If you haven’t heard the song, you’re missing out. The artist featured, Dante Bowe, was singing about how God had been so good to him “…and my soul sings…” Needless to say, I was hooked and wanted more. It’s as though I was suddenly starving even though I’ve been steadily fed. A new station to stalk…
Praise and worship, even in its simplicity, has become a balm for when my mind races with “what ifs” of things I have no control over. When the contents of my cup start to be depleted, turning my focus to gratitude not only refills it, but does so to the point of overflowing. I don’t want to go through life riding a roller coaster of emotions; sometimes overcome with elation, but then “in the depths of despair” (that’s a movie quote – Anne of Green Gables). I don’t want to suffer from chaotic emotions, and I know that giving thanks to God for His unending goodness is a fantastic deterrent.
I can’t help being a bit naïve, but how different would our shopping trips be if some Bethel worship was playing over the speaker system? Or maybe some MercyMe, Hillsong, Casting Crowns, or Chris Tomlin? Sounds like a revival is on the forecast if this scenario became reality. Did you know that God wants revival even more than we want revival? So often, we assume that we’re suffering, experiencing heartache, or lacking in some area of our life because “we have sin in our life” or because God is withholding blessings… and if we take that stance, we’re wrong. Whoa, whoa, whoa! Yes… I just went there.
During a spiritual revival, large numbers of people are not just converted to Christianity, but those who are complacent become revived and filled with enthusiasm. Many believe that this only happens when God decides to send revival; when God decides we’ve asked enough, we have enough people asking, and we’ve all asked the right way. Doesn’t this sound a bit ridiculous? Revivals happen when people get into God’s Word, get excited, and their faith starts moving mountains. It’s the Holy Spirit talking to someone who is listening and is willing to move.
Typically, a revival happens when there is moral decline, when people turn to God instead of themselves (because they’re at the end of themselves), God’s Word is preached instead of doctrine, and the Holy Spirit is free to move. God gets the glory every time; it’s His power that moves through us, but we have the authority. It’s just like sitting in a dark room, asking for light, but not flipping the switch. He gave it, but we have to put it to use.
We need to have a holy dissatisfaction – a desire so deep that we will be the change in order to see change. What kind of message are we sending to our neighbors, as Christians, when we endorse so many evils – evils that we are so plainly warned against in the Bible? We say we know God’s name, but so does the devil. Why do we tend to go with the crowd and stay silent when we should speak? Usually it’s fear because we don’t understand what God provided for us.
Another song by Dante Bowe that I discovered on YouTube (yeah, I was stalking) is called “Champion.” The message is about how God is our champion. He made mountains and giants fall, He’s undefeated, and He crowned us with confidence. Now, with this confidence that we’re crowned with, we can open our mouth and have walls come down and miracles break out. That sounds like flipping on a light switch to get the light to come on. John 14:12-14 “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” (NIV)
Jesus tells us that we, because of our faith in Him, will do even greater things than He did. Umm, didn’t Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead? Not just a reviving because his heart stopped, but Lazarus had been dead for four days – and buried – and Jesus brought him back to life (John 11:1-44)! What can be greater than that? Don’t you want to see it? Another song that comes to mind is “I Can Only Imagine” by Bart Millard (MercyMe).
This song is about being in God’s presence in Heaven – what will it be like? Will we stand or will we fall on our face? Will we jump up and down, dancing with joy? Or will we be paralyzed with awe? The song is titled accordingly. But what about while we’re here on earth? We have choices to make every day. Are we looking, with expectancy, to see God as we go through the drive-thru for our coffee or breakfast sandwich? Are we moved to lay hands on and pray for a co-worker who is sick? What about in our own home? If a fire of revival is going to break out, if that’s what we’re praying and hoping for in our community, state, and country, we need to be taking the same steps in our own home.
I long to see people in the produce section walking in victory instead of defeat. I want to see God’s people rise up and say, “Enough!” Let’s shake off this complacency and take hold of God’s promises. Let’s stand up against evil – we’ve already won, so let’s start acting like it! God gave us the victory; God has equipped us to continue walking in victory in this life. The promises in His Word are not empty and they will produce results. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:9-11 (NIV)
The last passage for this week I’m pulling from Romans 8. “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:31-32 (NIV) God is the ultimate conqueror, champion, defender, and graciously gives us all we need for an abundant life now. Let’s choose to be bold in proclaiming the goodness of God.