Romans 11:7 (KJV) 7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded
Yesterday I spent some time talking about the impact our prayers have on our nations, our regions and our churches. 2 Chronicles 7 tells us that the responsibility for the healing of our land, and I believe that includes our region and church, is on us not on the world. If we pray and do the other things outlined in this scripture, God will move and heal our land.
What brought this to the forefront in my thinking this week are things I am seeing and feeling in our country and our church. It has been a difficult few years for many of us. Our nation has been through a great deal. Most of the pastors I talk to have been under some kind of pressure. Some have said to me recently that this past year has been the worst of their ministry lives.
Although I would not say that is the case for our church, we have had our challenges. Finances are always an issue. God has provided for us miraculously. We thank God for that. We have nearly finished a major building project with no borrowed money at all. Our church has sent me to 5 nations over the past 12 months to help the church in those places. We have sown into other ministries and all of our bills are up to date.
Still, finances are a constant pressure. I told a senior friend of mine recently that I am thankful for what God has done but I would not mind two days of Manna every now and then instead of having to believe every day for enough to do all that we must do!
Although finances are the most pressing issue, I do not believe that finances are the most important thing we have faced. Far more worrisome to me is the condition described in today’s scripture. It just seems to me that we, and most of the pastors I speak to, are lacking an edge that many of us used to have. It is as though we have gotten so used to the status quo that we are in a state of slumber. The most important thing I sensed in our recent prayer times is a beginning of the reversal of this condition.
My wife saw something recently about the early days of the United States. During the years before the revolutionary war, there was something called the “Great Awakening” that took place in North America. Some f our younger founding fathers grew up listening to the preaching of people such as George Whitefield. This created a foundation in them that became part of the fabric of our nation. This term “great awakening” caught my attention.
We are so geared to instant things in our society that I think we have applied that thinking to the move of God as well. However, what we need today is another “Great Awakening.” We have been in a time of “slumber” in the church. We have been lulled to sleep by good churches, good teaching and good music. All of these things are positives but they can also become negatives. We feel that things are going well. As the saying goes, “If it aint broke don’t fix it.” The problem is that it is broken.
I believe we have settled for the good things we have instead of pressing in for all that God wants for and from us. We think the “good” things we see are enough to win the war we face, but they are not. This is the greatest time of spiritual warfare in the history of the church and we cannot win it with nice buildings, good teaching or “quality music.”
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto was congratulated by his staff for the great victory he had won. His response is said to have been, “I fear we have awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve.” These words turned out to be very true. I believe that the same thing is happening today.
These past few years have been difficult in many ways but I also believe they have been necessary. I believe that I sense the same thing in the church that Yamamoto described at the beginning of World War 2. I believe the giant that is the Church of Jesus Christ is beginning to awaken. I feel her shaking off the spirit of slumber and rising to a new day of victory.
Here is where we need to face our tendency to think everything must happen quickly. An awakening is not something that happens immediately. All of us had an “awakening” this morning. I know there are probably some of you that bounded out of bed ready for the day. That is not the case for most of us. Most of us awaken slowly.
We may stretch. We may have to rub the sleep out of our eyes. We give a yawn or two as alertness begins to wipe away the effects of a night’s sleep. We sometimes have to remember what day it is. There have been times when I have been traveling that I will wake up and wonder where I am. I have to look around before I remember that I am not home.
I am a breakfast person. I cannot start my day until I have a good breakfast and a cup of coffee. Then I have at least one more cup of coffee. Only then can I begin the tasks of that day. My wife is just the opposite. She does not want much to eat first thing in the morning. She wants to wake up a bit first, have a cup of coffee and then eat. Whatever our routine may be “awakening” takes some time.
My point for today is to encourage you in two ways. First, I want to say that for the first time in a long time I am feeling an awakening in the spirit. Many churches are beginning to see that the good things we have are not enough. We need more. We need more of God’s presence. We need more of God’s power. We need more commitment and dedication to the cause of Christ. I believe we are seeing the beginnings of something that most of the leaders I have relationship with have known is coming for years.
We are in the beginning of another “Great Awakening.” Awakenings take time. I think many of us have been looking for an explosion that would change everything in a moment. That is certainly possible for God, but I believe I have come to understand that this is not one of those times. We are waking up. We need to understand the signs and believe them. They may be small. They may be just a yawn here and a stretch there, but I believe they are unmistakable if we look for them. Just as we eventually get out of bed and start our day, the church will eventually awaken fully and take her place.
The second way I want to encourage you is to remember that we must cooperate with this awakening by releasing our faith in what God is doing. Awakenings require that we do something. We have to get out of bed. We have to get our bodies moving. We must do the same in the spirit.
God is waking up his church. We have been through times of trial and times of complacency. The morning is coming to the church and we need to get ourselves up. I believe the enemy of the church, the devil, has done just what God intended him to do. He has pressed us to the point where he has awakened us and we are beginning to fill with the resolve necessary to win the battle for our day.
Get up. Morning is here. The battle is beginning but do not be afraid. Yamamoto understood that it would be impossible for Japan to win a war against the industrial and military might that lay dormant in The United States. It is just as impossible for the devil to win a war against the tremendous potential of the body of Christ. This is our day. Let us get to it. There is much to be done!
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