You cannot command sleep. Yet how
many of us have tried! Many a mom has grown weary of telling her child, “Go to
sleep now.” And many a dad just as weary of adding, “Go to sleep or else.” Yet
we cannot say the word – as if we were hypnotists – and put someone to sleep
with just that word. We wish we could. How nice it would be if sleep came with
the turning of a switch – especially on those nights when we toss and turn and
roll and have our minds filled with racing thoughts. But sleep doesn’t work
like that.
In His book Imagining the Kingdom, James A. K. Smith compares revival to
falling asleep. He describes how you can only be its object and not its
producer. He writes…
“I cannot
choose to fall asleep. The best I can do is choose to put myself in a posture
and rhythm that welcomes sleep. I lie down in bed, on my left side, with my
knees drawn up; I close my eyes and breathe slowly, putting my plans out of my
mind. But the power of my will or consciousness stops there. I want to go to
sleep, and I've chosen to climb into bed—but in another sense sleep is not
something under my control or at my beckoned call. I call up the visitation of
sleep by imitating the breathing and posture of a sleeper. There is a moment
when sleep "comes" settling on this imitation of itself which I have
been offering to it, and I succeed in becoming what I was trying to be. Sleep
is a gift to be received, not a decision to be made. And yet it is a gift that
requires a posture of reception—a kind of active welcome.”
“A posture and rhythm that
welcomes sleep…” In other words, do everything I would do as if I
were sleeping (darken the room, make it quiet, lie down on the bed, put my head
on a pillow, etc.). Sleep then “happens”if I have created a good environment
for it to happen. But it happens – it always
happens – quite apart from my command.
What a good analogy for God’s work in revival when
He sends His Spirit on us in power. It’s not that we are not looking for Him
(though we may, in fact, not be). We
are practicing repentance, humbling our hearts, recognizing our brokenness,
recognizing it’s about me and not
others (not pointing the finger at them, but at myself), softening our hearts,
letting God know of our desire for the filling of the Spirit, and spending much
time in prayer seeking God’s transforming work in our hearts and minds and
attitudes. We are waiting on the Lord patiently and seeking to be faithful day
by day. We are doers of the Word and not hearers only. All of these things (and
others like them) are ways we put ourselves in the “posture of reception”. We
are trusting the sovereignty of God to give grace in the time of His favor.
How else might you put yourself in the posture of
reception? Think about your daily words and actions and attitudes. Do they
reflect a readiness for revival… for a work of God’s glory and power in your
inner being? If you wanted to get
into this posture, where would you begin? Would it be to put out of your life a
“love” that is competing against your love for Christ? Would it be to find a
faithful brother or sister who would help you confess a sin and more openly
declare what it has been doing to you? Would it be to fast… to set aside a
deeper and more intentional time for prayer? Where would you begin? If you can
identify that place, I encourage you to “go there” and do that and wait on the
Lord… and continue to wait. I can’t command you to be revived. But I can encourage you “turn out the light”
or “pull up the covers”, if you know what I mean.
Let
us seek the Lord and His work in our lives, whether it is in the form of
revival or in the everyday-ness of life. Really
seek. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Psalm 85:1-7 (NIV) 1 You showed favor to your land, O LORD; you restored the fortunes of
Jacob. 2 You forgave the iniquity of your people and
covered all their sins. Selah 3 You set aside all your
wrath and turned from your fierce anger. 4 Restore us
again, O God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. 5 Will
you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all
generations? 6 Will you not revive us again, that your
people may rejoice in you? 7 Show us your unfailing
love, O LORD, and grant us your
salvation.
Hosea 10:12 (NIV) Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the
fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to
seek the LORD, until he comes and
showers righteousness on you.
Jeremiah 29:10-14
(NIV) 10 This is what the LORD
says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you
and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For
I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans
to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call
upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You
will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I
will be found by you," declares the LORD,
"and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the
nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to
the place from which I carried you into exile."
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to
please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and
that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
PRAYER: Father, may I live each day in expectancy,
with a hunger and thirst for you that delights to anticipate the filling of
your Spirit and the revival of my soul. Thank you for such outpourings of your
grace. Return me to my first love and restore my passion for you. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”
Jesus
Christ is Lord!
Scott
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