During the years that we began dealing with the global crises of the pandemic, I found myself questioning if there was something God wanted to teach us, a change that He wanted us (Christians) to make in order to bring about His will. A change of this magnitude is what we refer to as revival.
If there were something God wanted to teach me personally, He wouldn’t need to do it through a global crisis, so when this crisis began, I believed He must be trying to get everyone’s attention. As a member of the body of Christ (the Church), I can only do my own part within the body of Christ to generate the change that God may have intended this crisis to move us towards. As much as I would like to change the world, I have to begin by changing me. Likewise, revival begins in our own hearts first.
“Revival begins by Christians getting right first and then spills over into the world.” – Charles Spurgeon
One year while I was in high school, I had a series of difficult things occur in my life. At the time, I knew that God may have been allowing them for the purpose of drawing me closer to Him. After those events in my life passed, whenever I would recall that time period, I knew I had really missed it. My stubbornness, pride, and laziness prevented me from building that closer relationship with God.
But when the pandemic began, I consciously decided that I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to learn what God wanted to teach me. I wondered what He was trying to accomplish. Are we fully accomplishing His will as He intended, or are Christians today just getting by? I fear that this may be true for so many of us. As our pastor has reminded us often when the pandemic began, we are supposed to be the salt and the light in this world. But without personal fervency, our lights become dimmer and dimmer, and as the Bible says, the salt has lost its savor. Matthew 5:13 says, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”
The Bible says in Romans 12:2, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”
I truly believe that the majority of Christians in our churches are severely lacking in spiritual growth and have a desperate need for the renewal of their minds. Allow me to describe a step of growth I experienced as I purposed not to miss what God wanted me to learn in the last year. There are many hurdles we must overcome that are vital and unavoidable steps for our spiritual growth.
I purposed to get into my Bible and become more consistent in my reading than I ever had before. I had been in my Bible off and on over the years and learned much from what I read, but no more wondering when I would have the time to get closer to God. I focused on just reading my Bible every day, regardless of the fact that I really wasn’t understanding what I read and didn’t really feel spiritually “fed.” I paid no attention to time because, as you well know, in quarantine, you have the time. As I read without time restraints, I realized I was overcoming the fear and stress that I would often succumb to because of the lack of time before I had to be somewhere. We must overcome this hinderance if we are to gain from reading our Bible.
After two weeks of pushing myself to read every day, the meanings of the verses became clear and wonderful things started pouring from the Scriptures. It was as if a curtain fell away from my mind. I was amazed that I couldn’t read but a few verses before something interesting “jumped out at me.” The more I read, I often could hardly finish a chapter without finding several things that I learned from my reading. I began keeping a journal to write down what I learned, and I reread it occasionally. Continuing this has allowed me to learn so much more as I read God’s Word.
But we need to be persistent and keep the momentum of our spiritual growth moving or we’ll be right back where we began.
As difficult as the past few years have been for all of us, let’s allow God to accomplish the exciting plans and the growth He has for us! Let’s not miss the opportunity to learn as the Holy Spirit teaches and guides. It’s not too late to begin the revival that can only begin with you.
If this article has helped you in some way or you have questions, feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you.
