What Must We Do for Revival?

When we take a look at what is going on today in the world, in our country, and even in the Church, we do not have to look far to see that we are in a sad state. Sexual immorality, violent crimes, and almost every evil imaginable are being promoted as good. Our governments are out of control and seem bent on taking away our freedoms that have been fought so hard for. This begs the question, what should be our response to this as believers? As with all important questions in life, the answer is found in the Scriptures.

After Solomon had dedicated the temple in Jerusalem, the Lord appeared to him in a dream. He told Solomon that if His people had turned away from Him, and as a result were experiencing national discipline, the Lord would offer them a means of escape. He said to Solomon, “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; if my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:13-14) Let’s go ahead and examine this passage a bit closer.

The Lord says “If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people.” This very passage is proof that the Lord does use weather, natural disasters, and pestilence as a means of discipline for a nation if they are going astray. I think it is interesting that people today attribute strange weather to global warming or Mother Nature, but the Scriptures are full of examples of the Lord using weather and other natural disasters to accomplish His will. In the days of King David, there was a famine in the land because of King Saul. Saul had killed the Gibeonites whom the children of Israel had made a peace treaty with in the days of Joshua. Proper justice had not been executed, and the Lord brought the famine on the land for three years until the house of Saul had been properly dealt with. (2 Samuel 21:1-21) For the wicked king Ahab and his wife Jezebel, the Lord withheld rain for three and a half years from the land of Israel for their leading the entire nation into idolatry in the worship of Baal  (1Kings 18). The Lord sent rain after Elijah had executed all the prophets of Baal. While we cannot attribute every natural disaster or trial in life to the Lord’s discipline, we can see that the Lord does use these things at times to get our attention.  I have often wondered if these massive tornados and hurricanes that have hit the United States, or the horrible fires that have swept through the Northwest in the last several summers are the Lord trying to get our attention (see Joel 1:19-20). Even COVID-19 is a pestilence, and the  Lord, for some reason, allowed it to escape out of the lab in Wuhan.  To explain all these things away to climate change, Mother Nature, or coincidence is an indication of the hardness of our own hearts to spiritual things.  Unfortunately our human nature is far too prone to straying into sin, and it is through these types of things the Lord uses to awaken us out of our slumber.  We get so wrapped up in what we are doing, and we need to be sobered up a bit.  These things may be a warning signal that we are going astray, and that we are about to head into certain peril if we do not change course.  The good news is that the Lord’s discipline is always remedial in nature.  His goal is to provide temporary pain on a smaller scale in order to avoid far more serious consequences in the future.  Much like the child who insists on playing in the street, his loving parents will discipline him to prevent him from becoming seriously injured or worse.  It is in these times of trials that, if we are wise, we will cry out to the Lord and ask Him to search our hearts.  The Lord then lays out the conditions for which he would bring revival to His people (if we do, then He will respond).