Oh man, where do I begin? Where does anyone begin to explain it when God talks to them?
Well for starters this was 2 weeks ago.. I wanted to write this blog sooner; however, it didn’t happen. But better late than never, right?
So two weeks ago on Wednesday, June 28, 2017, God spoke to me through a song as well as through His spirit. Now, I know a lot of people may call me crazy, or just assume that I’m just making this up because I didn’t verbally hear it–but it was so clear, it was almost as if it was spoken out loud.
When thinking about Toledo, Ohio most people think of some troubling statistics such as, the city is among the highest for sex trafficking in the nation or the large number of drug overdoses each year. And while all of this is true one of the nicknames that my city has had and has never lost is the name, Holy Toledo. Now, there is not a clearly established origin of this name and there are at least three very likely origins–it stemmed from Toledo, Spain; the large concentration of churches around the Old West End area; and a slightly more obscure reason that comes from Vaudeville actors having a hard time gathering large numbers of audiences when traveling through Toledo.
Now, why am I telling you these random details about Toledo? To be honest, mostly to just give you background information regarding my city because I firmly believe that the city of Toledo, Ohio will be known as Holy Toledo once again–the difference being, it will be because a revival has swept the city; one so large that it will be undeniable.
So back to that day two weeks ago, I was driving from work over to my mom’s house to help her get ready for the upcoming garage sale fundraiser for my trip (it was a fairly large success) and while I was listening to Proclaim FM on the radio the song by Chris Tomlin, God of this City, came on and I literally saw my city in such a different light for the first time in a very long time. The lyrics, “For greater things have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city. Greater thing have yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city. You’re the God of this City; You’re the King of these people; You’re the Lord of this nation; You are. You’re the Light in this darkness; You’re the Hope to the hopeless; You’re the Peace to the restless; You are. There is no one like our God,” just resonated so peacefully within me that day and I managed to see my city through an entirely different set of eyes. You see, up until this past weekend, I lived on the south side of Toledo wherein I would drive through some of the poorer neighborhoods. However, I saw the people of these neighborhoods in entirely different lights than I used to.
That day I saw everyone sitting outside of their porches talking and laughing as amazingly rich–for who has time for family nowadays when everyone is buried in their phones? Don’t you see? These people who don’t have the largest bank accounts, live in the nicest of house, or drive the nicest cars were not only laughing and smiling with each other, but they were also TALKING and LISTENING to each other. And I during that moment I heard God tell me that this was how He intended everyone to live–in peace and harmony and in communion with each other. Initially I was confused as to why He was reminding me of this, because it was not new or revolutionary news for me to hear that God wants everyone to be at peace with each other.
However, after a moment of talking to God out loud and just being in awe of Him. I heard Him again telling me that He was talking to me specifically about my city; Toledo–that Toledo will once again become a Holy city. You better believe I was confused, but then a really cool thing happened when I was still driving over there–I began to see the potential in the people and realized that it is happening before my eyes. A revival is starting!
Just these last couple of weekends my church’s Young Adult group (whose leaders are great friends and fantastic men and women in Christ) hosted a summer party where there were over 250 local teens and young adults who came out to have fun and also learn about God and worship in the process! Unfortunately, I was sick and had a fundraiser that morning, but the serenity of that night can almost be felt in some of the photos where everyone was standing outside worshiping God as one. This is the start of a revival in my city!
I have heard it prophesied time and time again that this generation–MY GENERATION–will bring revival to not only my city Toledo, but also to this nation. And this, my friend, is proof of it happening. God is preparing us all and has always used those people who are looked down upon in some of the most amazing of ways, and at the moment, our generation, “millennials,” constantly get looked down upon especially with the new statistics that come out every day that we are killing this industry and that industry, etc.
So coming full circle, two weeks ago God spoke to me while I was driving to my mom’s house and told me that amazing things are about to happen here in Toledo through people my age. For Toledo is not a down-and-out city, but rather a city that is hungry. Hungry for knowledge; hungry for culture; hungry for community, intimacy, and respect; and ultimately hungry for God. And it is this hunger that will begin to change the people in so many more ways than I can even fathom. I am in awe and wait in excitement to see the changes that God has made to my city while I am gone on the race! Toledo will once again be called Holy Toledo–only this time the meaning will be well known for the Glory of God.
