Friday, 11/8/19 – Friday Tough Question

Do I currently need “revival?”

When my life is in obvious turmoil and I am acutely aware something is wrong I desperately desire the thing be made right. During such times I seek God most earnestly… I plead for His transformative intervention! “Please God, fix this!” There is “me,” the needy child of God, and there is “it,” the wrong thing I desire be made right. In these trials I see the matter clearly.

But there are other times, times when life goes on “as normal”… comfortable and familiar times during which I sense nothing wrong at all. In these times I do not seek God so urgently. Nothing appears broken; nothing needs repair. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” goes the popular saw. In these times I may sense no pressing need… no need for “revival.”

“If you were wrong would you want to know it?” asks renowned TV personality Dr. Phil McGraw.

God comes into one’s life not to help one go on “as normal,” but to bring one to dwell on a much higher place… far, far above “normal.” What we call “normal” is merely that corner of the frog swamp that has been most recently familiar to us. But God is transforming us, changing us from frogs into princes and princesses… creatures no longer fit for ponds but for palaces.

CS Lewis cites George MacDonald,

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself. – CS Lewis [citing George MacDonald], Mere Christianity

Is nothing broken? Is nothing in need of repair?… in need of improvement?… or perhaps needing abandonment or replacement?

“If you were wrong would you want to know it?” asks the Great Doctor. Are you in need of “revival?”

Some questions are their own answers.

Press on…

Got a question? Use the Contact page and send It to me. We’ll search the Word for God’s answer.

This week at Lincoln Baptist Church you have a wonderful opportunity to seek the Lord. Join us for the Sermonindex Revival Conference — in person, or online. Go to the Lincoln Baptist Church website for details