Revival begins with US

Revival Begins With Us

I’ve probably written about this before, but, as so often happens with the Lord, He has spoken to me afresh about it. My wife and I watch very little television. A little bit of sport perhaps; the news now and then just to keep up with events; and some Christian TV for an hour perhaps some evenings. One specific series of programs we have been watching is something call “The Bay of the Holy Spirit Revival” on God TV. It is live broadcasting of revival style meetings across mostly the Southern States of America. Last night was a particularly good one. The anointing was heavy, so heavy, in fact, that we could feel and experience it in our living rooms here in the UK.

People of God - something is breaking in the heavenlies. I get the feeling that there is a start coming to proper revival. Whether or not it’s another false start remains to be seen but something big is breaking. As we were sitting watching this, with growing excitement, my phone shouted that I had a text. I assumed it would be one of our usual group of friends watching and feeling the same things as us. No – it wasn’t. It was, in fact, one of our growing band of on-fire younger members. I must not reveal the conversation but one remark he made was that, ‘revival starts with us’.

The Lord reminded me of this again this morning, and yes, revival does start with us. To revive something we, literally, make it alive again. Where would the 1904 Welsh revival have been if God had not first revived the faith of Evan Roberts? Where would the Azusa Street revival have been if God had not first re-awakened the faith of William J Seymour? The first thing God did in the 1848 Hebridean Revival was to re-affirm the faith of two elderly ladies who were praying for revival. Then He moved on the local Pastor, Duncan Campbell. Without these revived saints, where would revival have gone? More recently, what would have been missed if the Lord had not revived the faith of Dr Claudio Freidzon for the 80’s Argentine Revival?

The point is this – revival starts with perhaps just one person. It doesn’t have to be anyone special, although the experience of leading a revival marks a person for life. I mean, who were Evan Roberts, William J Seymour, Duncan Campbell, or Claudio Freidzon before revival hit their churches. They were simply pastors of not-very-big churches whom God chose as His vessels for revival. Any one of us today could be in the same boat. God will choose whomever He wants as His vessel for revival. None of these here were great preachers, none of them were particularly gifted teachers. All of them were Pastors with a heart to see God moving in their community.

Is your heart set on the things God wants rather than the things you’d ‘rather like to see’, or the things you want? A few years ago, the main man behind the Bay of the Holy Spirit revival was not even a Christian. Yet God took this young man, he’s only 29 or 30 now, and anointed him as a revivalist preacher in the old style – fiery, fierce, totally passionate, and one completely prepared to make himself a fool for Christ’s sake.

I wonder, is the young man at our church the next one? He has a heart for it that’s for sure. He has the passion and zeal for it. Or will it be another? Perhaps you or even me? Revival has to start with someone, somewhere and it might as well be you or me or one of the other wonderful youngsters at our church or in the other churches around our town. Yet even that is misrepresenting the way it happens, because revival is a sovereign move of God. He sends revival to us, and He uses one whom He chooses to lead it. One who loves Him, listens to Him, and is obedient to Him. One He can trust with the great responsibility of a revival. He found one such in the 90’s at Pensacola and that man is again involved with Bay of the Holy Spirit.

Is this the start of that long promised and long awaited ‘end-time’ revival? I don’t know. All I know is that I am prepared to be used in any way the Lord wants to use me in His service. All I know is that, if revival is to start in my area, then God needs to start with me – or you – or you – or you. Any one of us.

Don’t know about you but I’m getting quite excited at the prospect.