I’ve been thinking about what to write for quite a while. But nothing was coming to me. I would have a spark of a thought and then it would fade into nothingness as I started to really think about it. However, being sick for the last few days (with a cough and fever) has increased my rest time and therefore my time to think about what to write. This is a thought that came to me a few days ago and I’d like to share. But I’d like to warn you, it might not be the clearest due to some congestion and a medicine head.
I was listening to a song by Hillsong the other day. It was just something that I had on in the background and my iPod was on shuffle so I could be surprised by what came on. All of a sudden I hear the chorus of this song and it’s singing to me “God is moving, God is moving, Can you hear the sound of revival?”
I haven’t felt like I’ve had the easiest past month. I’ve been a mixture of encouraged and discouraged and anywhere in between. But suddenly, that phrase ‘the sounds of revival’ caught my attention. All I could think about is “what DOES revival sound like??”
Most people would probably say that singing and shouting praises to God have a lot to do with revival. And maybe I would agree… I think revival has pieces of that in there. But then I began to think about this everyday life stuff that I’ve been living through and wondering, ‘are there sounds of revival there?’. I think there are and I think they are different than we would expect sometimes.
I would venture to say that the sounds of revival sound a little something like this. It sounds like the footsteps of someone who has just fallen down but refused to stay down. They have failed in some way, but have said no to remaining in that failure and have pulled themselves back up to continue on in this journey of life. Revival is the sounds of that hard-hearted person finally being vulnerable about their struggles. Revival is the sound of weeping with another person when they need to have someone mourn with them. Revival sounds like the shouts of victory emitted by heaven when I choose to forgive instead of holding that grudge in bitterness toward another person. Revival is the heart that cries out for more of God.
I don’t think the sounds of revival come naturally. I think they are only the result of God’s changing my heart. I don’t think these sounds of revival would occur if I did not have Jesus living inside. They are proof that God truly is the God who is near and that His relationship truly does change the hardest heart. Revival only happens because of what God chooses to do in and through me. Revival is a reaction to being in true relationship with the God of the Universe.
These are just some thoughts… You can disagree if you’d like. But it was the processing that happened in my mind and heart when I heard that song. Here are the lyrics of the whole song.
Holy Spirit, touch your people
Teach us the ways of God
And as we live, as Jesus did
You are honored and lifted up
There’s a stirring in the Spirit
There’s an urgency in this hour
We as children must obey
Can you hear the footsteps of God
Chorus: God is moving, God is moving
Can you hear the sound of revival
God is moving, God is moving
Can you hear the sound of revival
As we praise you, as we sing
Draw near to us, O God
As we cry out for the nations
Pour out revival in the land
There’s a stirring in the Spirit
There’s an urgency in this hour
We as children must obey
Can you hear the footsteps of God
