No Delay In Revival

“And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people, that God had prepared the people: for the thing was done suddenly.” (2Ch 29:36 AV)

What does revival look like?  What are some indications that God is working in the midst of His people?  What do we look for to know that God has stirred His people to get right and go forward with Him?  Do we look for change?  Absolutely.  When Hezekiah began the process of reviving the nation, the first thing he did was to restore temple worship. He cleaned the building of every offence to the LORD!  People immediately began to sacrifice again.  They sought to establish the feast days.  Particularly, Passover.  There was change.  There was rejoicing.  There was praising God again.  But one of the indicators of revival is the speed in which this occurred.  When God stirs his people, the people act – fast!  When God’s people want to do something for the LORD, it doesn’t take months or years.  They catch the vision, pursue God’s will, and solve problems along the way.  There is little or no delay.  No countless meetings to discuss every conceivable idea.  Action is immediate and swift when God comes down!

My years of experience as a hospital chaplain and taught me that when a near dead patient is revived, it happens rather quickly.  Event though injuries or the illness that caused near death may take some time to heal, the initial revival happens within seconds.  A heart stops and out comes the defibrillator.  The paddles are charged and the patience is shocked.  He may experience irregular rhythm for a moment, but a shot of the right rug and perhaps a few more applications of current, and regular sinus rhythm returns.  If a near death experience is overcome, it is usually done quickly.  If not, the patient, it time, usually expires.

There is no life and action in the body of Christ because we are near death.  The man of God attempts to warn of near death, but we do not respond.  We pray for revival, but when the Holy Spirit comes to bring it, we quench Him.  Hezekiah, and his grandson Josiah, brought the greatest revival to Judah because of one thing. They read in the word of God the law of God and it stirred them to comply to the word of God.  Revival is not a feeling.  Revival is immediate and total surrender to the commands of the word of God.  Nothing less.  Nothing more.  If the people are revived, immediate obedience is the result.  Quickly!