THE SPIRIT OF REVIVAL

Today was my day off and I planned to get caught up on some yard work that had piled up since my times of illness. I had planned to burn some leaves, but the wind was blowing a little too much so I spent the afternoon just raking them into a big pile to hopefully burn tomorrow. At times the wind was pretty stiff and swirling. When the wind was blowing in the same direction I was raking, things were good, but I occassionally found myself raking into the wind. Well, that's an activity of futility. I started to grumble a little, but decided I would set my mind on better things. I started thinking about revival and some of the Scriptures I had read this morning. I've been reading and re-reading Joel, and toward the end of Chapter 2, after the the people return to the Lord, God says,

"After this, I will pour my Spirit on everyone. Your sons and daughters will prophesy. Your old men will dream dreams. Your young men will see visions. In those days I will pour my Spirit on servants, on both men and women." Joel 2:28-29 (GW)

God says He will pour out His Spirit. As I was thinking about this I also remembered what Jesus taught in John 3 about the Spirit being like the wind. You can't control either one, but you can see the effects of them. I realized God was teaching me something very important. As long as I go in the direction the Spirit is moving, things are good. But when I move in the direction against the moving of the Spirit, it is like raking into the wind. It's frustrating, tiring, and accomplishes very little.

Revival is about going with the flow of the Spirit of God. God is always at work, always moving in my life and in the Church. My responsibility as a follower of Christ, is to realize which way the Spirit is moving and move with Him. When we are in the Spirit, we will be revived.