THE CYCLE OF REVIVAL
The coldness that has characterized so many Christian folks is why the word ‘revival’ is not uncommon. Almost every minister now talks of revival, stemming from the desire to see the church improve and better. Passion for God, Christian character, demonstration of power and long hours of prayer, etc. are often referred to when the word ‘revival’ is used. However, the familiarity with the word has desensitized many towards the eternal idea carried by the word ‘revival’.
This piece isn’t written to explain what revival is but to help us understand that there is a pattern attributed to revival and the understanding of this pattern will show the end goal for which God sends revival upon His people. When we truncate the pattern so that the end goal isn’t achieved, we condition the heart of the people to be desensitized towards expressions of the Spirit. You often hear phrases like, “they have started praying again”, “to what end is their worship”, “they are praying and worshipping, yet their lifestyle is worse than those of us who do not go to church”, “there are many churches but yet the country isn’t any better”, “the church is a problem” and other similar sentences.
The purpose of revival isn’t to increase the culture of prayer or to increase the time spent in fellowship and services. That many people are responding to God in worship and other church activities are not the focus of revival. However, these things come along with revival but the goal of revival goes beyond them.
Before we talk about the goal of revival, let us look at the cycle of revival.
In Hosea 5, we read about the sin of Israel. It peaked in verse 9 where it spoke of the desolation of Ephraim and Judah. In verse 13, Ephraim and Judah were rebuked because having seen the result of their whoredom, they still ran after other sources of cure and help.
What we found in the prophecy of Haggai (Haggai 1) is that God sends (or as grace preachers say, permits) judgment in form of natural disasters and other forms such as financial hardship and pestilence as an act of mercy, to catch the attention of His people and in their repentance and alignment, they birth His will on the earth. However in Hosea, the people didn’t respond appropriately, they ran to other sources seeking help. God then said he would tear them down some more and leave them in pain until they repent (Hosea 5:14–15).
This is the backdrop that Hosea 6 hinges on. Verses 1–3 say,
“Come, and let us return to the Lord;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
After two days He will revive us;
On the third day, He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,
Like the latter and former rain to the earth.”
The revival that the nation would see is dependent upon their repentance. After the revival comes “living in his sight” and the knowledge of God will be refreshing to all. We have been praying for revival but are soon contented with the people’s response expressed in long hours of prayer and worship without it translating into a refreshing course for all the earth. The cycle of revival is
REPENTANCE — — — — REVIVAL — — — — — — REFRESHING
The book of Judges is full of the story of backslidden Israel and being revived consistently. They fall into sin and are under the tyranny of another nation, they repent and the nation is revived and they enjoy rest and abundance but it just doesn’t quite end in a refreshing for the earth. Soon, they are dragged into sin and whoredom again. The story is repeated over and over. The same can be said of the church today, we pray and ask for revival, and God releases the revival but we do not allow it to translate into a refreshing for all men. We are contented with the expressions within the walls of the church, while many are being held under the tyranny of the devil and the wickedness of men.
God didn’t release grace so that we keep the expressions of His life within the church. He wants us to do much more. If we do not, we will raise a generation who are conversant with passion without the manifest presence of God; who only hear of the tales of God’s power and will not be able to replicate such; who only know God as a mental asset and not experientially. Responsibility is laid on us to do better for the coming generation.
Shalom!
Adesoji Fasanya
Team Lead, Eden House
