REVIVAL MEANS TO RETURN TO WORK!

2 Peter 3:17-18 KJV

17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

The call for revival is needed when God’s good people are overwhelmed by a constant barrage of evil all around them. The Amplified New Testament warns: “do not allow the error of lawless and wicked persons to cause you to fall from your own present firm condition.” It is Satan’s sinister plan to wear out the saints and cause them to quit.

1. QUITTING IS OFTEN A RESULT OF LONG SPIRITUAL CONFLICT!

1 Kings 19:2-4 KJV

2 Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time.

3 And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beer-sheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there.

4 But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.

Can you feel the weariness of the prophet? Can you hear it in his voice as he sighs out the words “it is enough?” Those three words “it-is-enough” is from only one small Hebrew word rab which means “too much.” Too much conflict, too much effort, too little results and too much disappointment are all wrapped up in that one little word. Ultimately the prophet simply sits down under a shady tree and asks to be removed from God’s labor pool. The answer is not to quit but to rest then return.

2. QUITTING IS SOMETIMES THE RESULT OF DISAPPOINTMENT IN GOD!

Jonah 4:2-4 KJV

2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.

3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for it is better for me to die than to live.

4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?

God may decide to love those that we have chosen to hate. He may choose to bless those whom we would blast! Worse than that, He may choose to trouble us when we feel that we do not deserve the trouble. Disappointment forms and grows because we do not understand God’s purposes. We begin to think that our reasoning is better than His and we are tempted to quit.

This is now the second prophet who has requested early retirement through death. God asks a question that we should ask ourselves today: “Doest thou well to be angry?”

3. REVIVAL IS A RETURN TO WORK ABANDONED!

A weary minister became greatly discouraged, and attempted to leave his work. A significant dream relieved him. He thought he was working with a pickaxe, on the top of a basaltic rock. His muscular arm brought down stroke after stroke for hours, but the rock was hardly indented. He said to himself at last, "It is useless; I will pick no more." Suddenly a stranger of dignified mien stood by his side, and said, "You will pick no more?" "No." "Were you not set to do this task?" "Yes." "Why then abandon it?" "My work is in vain; I make no impression." Solemnly the stranger replied, "What is that to you? Your duty is to pick, whether the rock yields or not. Your work is in your own hands; the result is not. "Work on." He resumed his task. The first blow was given with almost superhuman force, and the rock flew into a thousand pieces. He awoke, returned to his work, and a great revival followed. (from The Biblical Illustrator)

Dear Lord, revive me and let me return to my work with energy and confidence. AMEN