When Losing is Winning

“But if thou say to me, We trust in the LORD our God: [is it] not he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar? Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.” (Isa 36:7-8 AV)

One thing’s for sure.  If and when revival hits, the world will never recognize it as such! In fact, the world will assume it just the opposite.  What Assyria is saying here is Hezekiah took away the God of Judah when he destroyed all the altars and groves in high places wherein the people of Judah worshiped rather than where they were supposed to – the temple at Jerusalem.  Assyria saw the cleansing of the nation as a loss of religion.  It was just the opposite.

Which brings us to a thought.  As we pray for revival, let us understand what that means.  When people pray for revival, what they are praying for is an increase.  More salvation decisions.  More baptisms.  More memberships.  Bigger buildings.  More programs.  More exciting music.  Etc.  This is not Biblical revival.  Biblical revival is a reduction.  Not an explosion.  It is a reduction of that which is hindering spiritual growth in God’s people.  It is the putting away of idols.  It is the putting away of individual standards of worship that elevates man’s emotions rather than true doctrinal based worship.  True revival is not an increase.  It is a decrease.  When true revival hits, the world will see it as a loss.  A good thing for them.  What they will not realize is when revival hits, the true power of God comes to God’s people.  The result of the revival is growth.  But growth is not revival.

If the world is happy, it just might be that God is bringing revival!  If the world sees God’s people as abandoning their religion, that would be a good thing.  If they see us as dying, then perhaps what God is really doing is purging us from our sin so that we can begin again a spiritual growth experience.  Perhaps if the world is happy in persecuting God’s people because they perceive it to be a loss for us, maybe the LORD is bringing true revival to His people!