I don’t know about you, but by the end of 2020, I was WORN OUT!
Honestly, it started sometime in the fall for me, and by October, I had enough sense to step down from all my positions in the community and church because I knew I needed rest. I would tell my friends through sobbing tears “I don’t know what’s wrong with me, I think I’ve lost my sparkle!”
I was weary and depleted and could not form a thought, do anything productive, or even read the Word. I would lie in bed or sit in my chair while listening to music, tears pouring down my cheeks, and say, “God, you know,” trusting He would meet me there. I slept and slept over the final two months of the year, finally feeling somewhat rested, but something was still missing.
So when my church started its annual 21-day fast on January 10th, I came prepared to ask God for a lot – not things per se. Still, I have questions that need answers and situations that need clarity, and, of course, believing in salvation, deliverance, and healing for my friends and loved ones.
I spent the first day of the fast in tears. I went to say, “Good Morning God,” at 6:00 AM, and the waterworks started. The experience was unexplainable. But on day 2, even among these newfound, never-ending tears, I intentionally asked God what He had in store for His people this year. And boom, did He hit me with a powerful word.
REVIVAL
At first, I groaned, not because I didn’t want to see a revival, at least not the “commercialized view” of revival. I’ve heard so many people buzzing about revival coming and how it will be the same but greater than before. I haven’t felt that was right in my spirit. I know God is an infinite God with infinite ways to pour out His Spirit. I don’t believe He’s going to do the same thing twice. It’s my personal opinion that He would rock the socks off any human expectation. He tends to keep it spicy in my life, so I assume He will do that for others, too.
Over the last several days in my prayer time, I asked Him to take me deeper and explain what he wants with this revival. This is the Word He imparted to me…
Three words: refresh, refine, renew
He said, “There will be an outpouring of My Spirit on each one of my children in a personal and private way. This is a time of exposure and healing; a washing and cleansing of sorts. Tears will be shed as chains are broken, strongholds torn down and deeper levels of healing experienced as my people enter the secret place and allow me to fill those abandoned and lonely areas.”
Then I heard Him say, “I am pouring out My Spirit, filling the hearts of those who love Me and serve Me. I’m washing over their weariness and exhaustion with bountiful joy and endless energy. I am exchanging their weakness for strength founded in Me. I am mending their brokenness and restoring their weary souls. I want to revive the hearts of My people so they will have the strength to do My Will.”
Wanting more insight into this prophetic Word, I turned to the dictionary because I’m a word nerd. Even if I know the meaning of a word, I like to look it up and see all the definitions given because when you aren’t studying vocabulary, you can forget a thing or two over the years. Here is what I found:
1) REFRESH: Restore strength and animation, to freshen up, give new strength or energy, reinvigorate
2) REFINE: remove impurities, to improve or perfect by pruning or polishing
3) RENEW: replace something that is broken or worn out; to make like new; restore to freshness, vigor, or perfection
I see your mouth hanging open in awe. Don’t worry sis, I had the same reaction.
It stunned me initially because I had pictured revival as gatherings of people worshipping and being slain in the spirit or experiencing divine healing. However, the longer I allowed God’s Word to sink in and bask in its glory, the more it took root and explained much of what has been stirring in my heart recently.
I sat there dumbfounded that He was pouring out precisely what I needed and that most of us need through personal revival. I only had to let down the wall and allow Him in to refresh me so I would have the stamina to expose the impurities that needed refinement so He could renew me. I was in! This is what my heart had been longing for.
But wait, it gets better…I looked up the word revival:
REVIVAL: restoration of force, validity or effect
Then, all of a sudden, I felt God urging me to understand. He wants to give us new strength and energy (REFRESH) so we can go through the process of pruning and polishing (REFINE) because He wants and needs us to be made like new and restored (RENEW) so we can look forward to the battles ahead.
He needs to restore our force (REVIVAL) on the battlefield…to fight the enemy, intercede for the lost, teach the young, and raise up a new generation of believers who walk in their authority in Christ, operate in their spiritual gifts and do the will of the Father.
You and I, and every believer, are a force to be reckoned with when we walk in our authority in Christ. But when we are battle-weary, jaded from hit after hit, we need a revival, a restoration of force to be effective in the kingdom.
If you’re wandering in the wilderness right now, desperate for a refreshing of His Spirit, ask your Father for a revival for your heart.
He’s determined to reach you, but because of His gentlemanly nature, you must INVITE HIM!
So make the time, lay there in silence if you can’t do anything else, shed the tears, and allow His healing power to wash over you with every tear you shed. I pray each of you will experience the manifest presence of God during this season in a new and breathtaking way.
