When calling on God to revive us again, we must wait on God to hear from heaven and wait for as long as it takes. We wait because we believe God will answer when we call and we wait because we believe when we seek Him we will find Him. This means having faith in God’s word is beyond what you can see. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Many Christians cannot get past not being able to see so if they do not see it they will not believe it. Habakkuk 3:1 “Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord. Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” People are not asking God tot repeat them because they have become content in their captivity. The captive life is all they know. So instead of waiting on the Holy Spirit, they have modified scripture to fit their captive life but that is not how it is supposed to be. Habakkuk goes on to say, “16 I heard and my heart pounded, my lips quivered at the sound; decay crept into my bones, and my legs trembled. Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity to come on the nation invading us. 17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls.” Some would say that Habakkuk feared the enemy but that is not what the passage says as He feared the Lord and even though the enemy advanced against them he would wait for calamity to come upon the enemy because he knew they would be defeated. He also did not look around him and call the captive life normal. There was no harvest, nothing.
This was similar to when the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon. Judges 6:1 “The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. 2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. 4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. 5 They came up with their livestock and their tents like swarms of locusts. It was impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 6 Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.” The difference today is that the North American church does not even acknowledge their destitution because of their stubborn refusal to believe and refuses to repent. They do not even realize they are doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. The desolate condition of the church is because of this very reason except they do not know they should be distressed because they think this is normal Christianity. For many the form of godliness is enough. Judges 2:10 “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 12 They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger 13 because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14 In his anger against Israel the Lord gave them into the hands of raiders who plundered them. He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, whom they were no longer able to resist. 15 Whenever Israel went out to fight, the hand of the Lord was against them to defeat them, just as he had sworn to them. They were in great distress.” The church should be in great distress but they are not. Instead of repenting they simply have written new doctrines and have accepted other gospels so they would not have to change.
The good news is that there is always a remnant crying out to God. As is the case with Gideon, God heard and sent a prophet to speak to them. Judges 3:10 “I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” He then spoke to Gideon. Judges 6:12 “When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. 13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” Today most of the church is not asking this question even though scripture clearly shows that we too are missing the power of the Holy Spirit and are in captivity. Gideon then found out what the power looked like. Judges 6:14 “The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you? 15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family. 16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” With the power of God it did not matter if he was weak and the least. After Gideon finally understood the Lord meant what he said, they defeated the enemy. Judges 6:34 “Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon” He then with 300 men defeated a vast army that was “5 impossible to count them or their camels; they invaded the land to ravage it. 33 Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces.”
Don’t be deceived by those who say there is no power available. Even though the enemy has invaded the land, look past what you can see and have faith in the one who can set you free. If you have been waiting don’t give up. John 8:31 “Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” So even though the harvest has been ravaged by the enemy, we join with Habakkuk and say, Habakkuk 3:18 “I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior. 19 God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.” Psalm 85:4 “Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us! 5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations? 6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? 7 Show us your steadfast love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation.”
