Blueprint for Revival
“Blueprint for Revival”
by Pastor Christine Caine
October 19, 2020
Lord, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah. You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger. Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us! Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.
Psalm 85:1-7 (ESV)
Many of us may feel like we’ve been in exile this year. We may have thought we’d be in a better place by October 2020, just like the children of Israel who felt discouraged in this scripture. Psalm 85 was likely written after the Israelites returned from exile back to Jerusalem after 70 years. They thought that they could return to a pre-exilic state, but there was no going back. Nothing was going to be normal. Similar to the Israelites, we too may be facing disappointment.
In Psalm 85, the Psalmist is asking God, “Will you not revive us again?” The purpose of the revival is for the people to rejoice in the Lord. The Israelites are asking God to restore the fortunes of Jacob and to revive them so the people may rejoice in God again. That is our prayer too--that things will turn around, and we will rejoice again. There is no denying or dismissing the division, grief, and loss we are all facing, but we need to stop looking down and start looking up.
The church needs to awaken and remember what our mission is. There needs to be a revival of God’s people because, until we rejoice in God again, there is nothing that we can offer to a hurting and broken world. We can’t just keep focusing on our discouragement and disillusionment. We have to get a hunger for the things of God, for the Kingdom of God--there’s got to be stirring on the inside of us for God himself.
There needs to be a stirring inside of us that presses into the purposes of God, which he already formed in us. We need to put God first and say: God, you deserve my best. There is something that happens in us when we put God first in our lives and prioritize him when we get into his manifest presence.
In Luke 24:21 (ESV), the disciples are complaining on the road to Emmaus about how disappointed they are that Jesus was not the one they thought he was; meanwhile, they are talking to the resurrected Jesus himself. Just because we had hoped for something different doesn't mean that Jesus failed to keep his word. In this global time-out, we do not need to consider what we had hoped for but rather who we will be when we get out of this.
So many things we previously trusted are not available. We see that our idols did not deliver because they can't. We can’t try to get from our idols or other people what only God can give. We have come face to face with the issue of our mortality. There is no hope for the world if the people of God themselves are not hungry for God.
It’s our desperation for God and for his presence that guides us to him and a ministry of excellence. This is the God who helped the Israelites cross the Jordan. This is the God that made Nineveh repent. We need to remember what God has done for us--his goodness and his faithfulness. God’s promises do not depend on a specific circumstance or process. God is trustworthy even when we don’t understand the process. God parted the Red Sea, provided manna, and brought the next generation into Canaan. Why are there so many unbelieving believers?
In Judges 2:10, it says when Joshua and his generation died, another generation arose who did not know the Lord. There’s no point in just us seeing what God has done in the world; we have to make sure that another generation is being raised up that sees for themselves the miracles and faithfulness of God. This is not a time for Christians to freak out; we need to have an “even if” faith, not a “what if” faith. Our response must be different from the world’s when things go wrong. Our joy, hope, peace, and love is not found in our circumstances; it’s found in Christ.
We may lose people, jobs, and relationships, but we will never lose him. Let’s cry out to God to restore us and remind us of who we are. We are called to be beacons of hope on an earth where there is no other hope. We need to start looking up and not down so that God will express his glory in and through us.
Reflection/Discussion Questions:
1. How do you believe that God wants to revive and restore you in this season?
2. How does remembering what God has done in the past help us to look up? What has God done for you in the past?
3. How do you believe that God wants to use you to spark revival in your sphere of influence?
4. Pray and ask God to restore and revive you for his glory.