Brokenness and Gospel-Revival

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith/2013/02/12/a-prayer-about-our-victorious-christ-and-a-fleeing-devil/

I have said before that when I hear people pray for revival, I often think they don't know what they are praying for. Revival looks like broken people seeing their brokenness and turning in repentance to our Savior, Christ Jesus.

Just as the prophets bounce back and forth between condemning God's people and promising God's grace to them, so, in lives, when God tears people's lives down, and apart, so that they have nothing to stand on, he so often follows it by setting them on Christ as the rock and foundation of their lives. Yes, there are times when people's lives fall apart and they reject Christ, but then it is not our Christ they reject, but a false Christ. Or why do they expect an easy life? We are saved by a suffering king, one who took on himself our pain. Do we expect to be greater than our savior? So we rely on him, the powerful and good God of the universe. Because he is powerful and good, we need not fear when evil surrounds us, for he is with us. Therefore, depend on him when evil does surround you, for he is there. Not because you will see him act--praise God if you do--but because he will act. Therefore we act in faith, assuming that God works in that, not that we will necessarily see it, but because we will praise God for it because he has told us that he works in and through us. Indeed, to see God work in us is for God to work through us in those who see God's great power work to miraculously change lives.

When people pray for revival, they expect changed lives. When there appears to be satanic attacks, praise God that we have been counted worthy to suffer for him, and that we are such an affront to the Enemy as to warrant it. And have hope: our Enemy is an idiot, when he most won, in killing the messiah, he killed himself. It is no different any other time. The great force of such attacks will press us to lean upon and rely on and worship and glorify our king. He may make us know our sin and death. That will cause us to realize our need of Christ's righteousness and life. And that will cause us to praise our great High Priest who intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father, and to rely on the Spirit who empowers us to act according to his will, and glory in our redeemer.