Have you ever misunderstood something the Lord was saying to you? Well, at the beginning of this year, I kept asking God to give me a word to cling to in 2020. I wanted something from the Lord that I could focus on for a whole year. The word that kept revealing itself to me was “revival.” This excited me because I was supposed to go to Guatemala on a mission trip and then spend the whole summer ministering to girls at a summer camp. I thought the Lord was telling me that he wanted to start a revival with me for others.
However, I could not have been more wrong. I was unable to go to either of those ministry opportunities, thanks to COVID-19. After spending most of the spring home all day every day with a “woe is me” attitude, it finally hit me. The whole time I was working to make revival happening for others, the Lord wanted a revival in me. The Oxford Dictionary’s definition of revival is “an improvement in the condition or strength of something.” Another definition is “an instance of something becoming popular, active, or important again.” I needed to do my part to improve and strengthen my relationship with the Lord. I needed to make Jesus popular and important in my life again.
When I think about this kind of revival, I can’t help but think of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. After taking his inheritance from his father at an early age and squandering all of it, He ran back to his father. And the father “threw His arms around him and kissed him” (v. 20). I was being called to run back to my Father, who was waiting with His arms wide open. This revival that I wanted so badly to happen for others had to start with me by reviving my relationship with Christ and growing closer to Him.
This truth reminds me of something Jesus said when He was speaking with the woman at the well in John 4. He said that if she drank of the Living Water, He was offering, “the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (v. 14). The ultimate Life Source could spring up within her. She just had to accept Him. Similarly, Paul, the man who told so many people about Jesus and even walked alongside Him, had to start with his own relationship with the Lord. He was even blinded just so he could see that the Lord wanted Him to run to Him.
Although I misunderstood what the Lord was saying to me, that didn’t make God’s call any less true. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” He does choose me to serve Him and spread the Gospel, but first, I must make Jesus important and popular in my life again. My Father was not mad at me for misunderstanding Him; instead, He just kept pushing me. I recently heard someone say that the Lord treats us like the dad of a toddler when they are learning to walk. He doesn’t get mad at us when we fall. Instead, He grabs our hands, lifts us up, and calls us to Him again. He is sovereign and full of grace. Run back to Him. Make Him popular in your heart again.
Dear Lord,
Thank you for calling me back to you. Thank you for offering me living water that springs up from within me. I want you to be important, active, and popular in my life again. I want our relationship to be revived and strengthened. Renew my heart as I run back to you. Amen
Kristie Brothers
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#kristiebrothersblogs