Revival

A thousand miles span the gap.

One thousand and twelve, to be exact. According to maps. A mere 16 hours and 46 minutes between my home and Wilmore, Kentucky.

The place where revival broke out. The college campus of Asbury University.

My personal collegiate career was marked by an amazing university ministry. Thursday nights, I would gather in my home church, blocks away from the entrance of the university, and worship with a thousand students – easily.

And Sunday morning, the building was so full that we had our own service in the sanctuary because there was not enough room for us to be included with the rest of the congregation.

It was one of the richest times in my life. A season where embers of faith were fanned into flames that would later refine my faith, proving everything I believed about the goodness and redemptive work of God to be absolutely true.

As I kept up with the Asbury revival through the screen of my phone, I found myself full of excitement for those students. Of how they were witnessing the presence of God in an amazing, tangible way – and maybe for many, for the first time.

That experience will, undoubtedly, be a life marker for them. A moment in time they will carry into eternity. And as countless believers have prayed for revival to break out for years, desperately asking God to do a lifechanging work in our nation, we can easily forget that God has never, ever, stopped working.

This movement of His Spirit is remarkable, no denying that. But, let us not assume that moments of revival are exceedingly more significant than the continued diligence of faithfulness.

Because, like me, you may have been unable to jump in the car and witness an outpouring of God’s spirit over that community. You’re tucked tightly into your home caring for your children. Doing the daily, mundane tasks of sifting through loads of laundry, slicing apples for hungry bellies, and meal planning family dinners for the week. You’re brushing out tangles, checking over homework, stripping linens, scrubbing toilets, and fulfilling whatever roles God has called you to.

You’re spending Saturday nights prepping to leave on time (or close to it) Sunday morning. Reading Bible stories to your children when they’ll sit long enough to listen, and carving out time in His word on your own. You’re praying with loves ones, over them, and for them every day. Seeking forgiveness when you’ve done wrong, and forgiving when you’ve been wronged. Ministering through the various opportunities God has presented before you. You’re doing your best to learn and apply His commands and principles, requesting large doses of grace along the way, because you desire to live a life that’s pleasing to God.

And although the Asbury revival was an incredible, newsworthy, attention-grabbing work of God, the perceivably simple, ordinary, daily faithfulness played out in your home is of great significance, too.

After all, we see Paul commending such faith in the heritage of his spiritual son, Timothy. “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” (2 Timothy 1:5)

Paul’s sudden, dramatic transformation was a powerful work of God. But so was Timothy’s rich heritage of sincere faith that had been passed down from one generation to another.

Both dear to God. Both profitable to His kingdom.

Friends, God is at work all around us. On college campuses, inside sanctuaries, and inside the walls of your home.

Massive revival may not appear to be breaking out right where you are, but you don’t have to be in one particular place to experience God.

You’ve got a front row seat, too. Direct access, through the blood of Christ, to the Author and Perfector of life who isn’t limited to one space in time.

Let us maintain our faithfulness, then. Our diligence. Our consistent and sincere pursuit of faith, keeping our eyes on Christ. After all, that’s the byproduct of true revival. Lives altered and changed for eternity.

There is no doubt that God is continuing to write an unforgettable story of His power and glory in our day, too.

And that won’t stop until He returns.