As many of you may already know, something amazing is
stirring in central Kentucky. Students at Asbury University gathered for a
weekly chapel service last Wednesday and as of this writing that chapel service
is still going on.
We had two friends who just happened to be there this past
week, one already scheduled to speak before what is being called a revival
started. If there was any doubt in my mind as to the validity of what is
happening, she wrote that as soon as you enter the room, a holy fear comes over
you. I knew right then this was of the Lord.
In the past, when Jerry and I have visited places where God was moving both in
this country and in Canada, I also experienced that holy fear. It’s a difficult
thing to convey to someone who hasn’t known it. In trying to explain this to a
man many years ago after we returned from visiting a place of revival, the
person said, “So you went there and got scared.” He then laughed.
Yes, I did. Because I knew I was in the presence of the
living God. Not that I’m not other times, but there is a heightened awareness. And
that awareness brings to light all that is undone in us. In Luke 2:9, an angel
appears to the shepherds to announce the birth of Jesus, “And lo, the angel of the
Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they
were sore afraid.” A note in a commentary I once read about this verse always
makes me laugh when I think of it, “Fear was a common reaction to angelic
appearances.” No kidding. And that glory of the Lord shining around them
probably helped them along in being “sore afraid.”
Because you see, we are talking about the Living God—not some two-dimensional historical figure. God is alive and
active and at work in our midst. God’s glory shines into our darkened hearts
and highlights what needs to go. Revival always leads to conviction, confession,
and repentance. The Psalmist wrote in Psalm 85:6, “Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?” Because you see the conviction,
confession, and repentance leads to joy when our hearts are cleansed of all
that would keep us from being clear vessels for Him.
Revival also greatly involves prayer. Henry Blackaby wrote, “All
revival begins, and continues, in the prayer meeting. Some have also called
prayer the ‘great fruit of revival.’ In times of revival, thousands may be
found on their knees for hours, lifting up their heartfelt cries, with thanksgiving,
to heaven.” I think we are seeing this at Asbury. If you go to your social
media and search for Asbury Revival, you will see pictures of just that—people on their knees praying.
I’ve read busloads of folks from other places are coming in
to experience what God is doing. May the Lord Jesus continue to be lifted high. No one knows how long this revival at Asbury
will continue, but I’m praying as so many others are that this move of God will
spread. My heart longs for this.
Oh, Lord, revive us again.