PrepareTheWayToday
A Biblical Perspective on Preparedness and Crisis
PrepareTheWayToday
A Biblical Perspective on Preparedness and Crisis
Author unknown
Another key similarity between revival and nuclear fission is a strange phenomenon
that occurs right before the atom splits. The nucleus actually depresses. Scientists
observe that the neutron bombardment which seemed to be changing the nucleus, now
shows no sign of reaching critical mass. Nothing seems to be happening.
That is what happens right before a manifestation of God’s glory. The revival core will be praying and sensing a rising tide of power and expectancy. All of the sudden,
you hit a brick wall. The power is gone. God’s presence seems to have lifted. Your
prayers fell trapped in your mouth. A deep despair settles in. You feel physically
drained. That is the “dark night of the soul.” This is where every revival pioneer has
been before you and now it is your turn. It will take everything in you to keep moving.
The sobering fact is that many who have reached the dark night of the soul have
retreated. Eternity will reveal a long, sad history of revival near misses.
Let me state emphatically that 90% of revival is getting to the point where an
unshakable resolve is born. Everything you have done before reach this dark night will
seem unimportant. It is what you do now that makes or breaks your heart’s desire. At
no other time does God express love more than when He allows this time of total
emptiness. God risks being misunderstood. He faces the potential of one of His
children walking away frustrated and confused, but He believes the good it will produce
is well worth the risk.
What do you do when this cloud of darkness settles on you? Scientists respond to a
depressed nucleus by intensifying the neutron beam, and resolve to do so until fission
occurs. They commit to keep moving, not relying on any physical signs. That is what
we must do to see the end of the night.
Why does God allow this dark night? I strongly believe that our Father realized that
our Father realized that those through whom He works to bring revival receive great
praise from church and awesome attacks from satan. A person lacking humility won’t
survive the praise of men. A person without perseverance won’t overcome satan. The
revival core must realize this and stand the test.
Just as a scientist turns up the force of the neutron beam even though he sees no
result, so true revivalists will turn up their prayer during the dark night of the soul. If the
children of God demonstrate that they won’t go by what they see or feel, God will know
that He has vessels that will not rely on circumstances or feelings to keep them on a
straight course.
If the prayer of the revival core continues this dark night, their true motive surfaces.
The only thing that will hold us when the nucleus depresses is a pure heart of love for
the lost and a true desire to see God glorified. God wisely observes that anyone who
survives this night is rightfully suited to invade enemy territory.
Again we see this fifth stage in our key verse, 2 Chronicles 7:14, “…will humble
themselves and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways…” It would
seem that by this stage, God would know we have abandoned our sin. The issue,
however, is something deeper, it deals with our ways. Our repentance has dealt with
what we have done; now the purification focuses on what we are. The psalmist
distinguished two aspects of God: His acts and His ways. “He made know His ways to
Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel” (Psalm 103:7). The children of Israel only
knew God from miracle to miracle, but Moses knew the deep intentions and the longrange plan of God. Moses understood the essence, heartbeat and direction of God.
To turn from our wicked ways doesn’t just mean to repent of our sins. Hitherto, we
have repented of our acts, now we need deliverance from our ways. Gethsemane was
the dark night of the soul for Jesus Christ; it was the test of His ways. You wonder if
Jesus had to repent. The answer is no, but He had to be examined in His Father’s court
of justice.
The dark night of the soul is a very baffling test, for it comes at a least expected time
and with special conditions. The inner nature must be surprised, caught off guard, in
order to be exposed and conquered. In the many records of revival, there is an almost
uniform description of this crucible… on the mountain top one moment, feeling run over
by a train the next. Joseph, barely recovered from a glorious dream, is thrown into a pit
by his brothers. David, still hearing the chant of the throng saying, “Saul has slain his
thousands and David his ten thousands,” wakes up in a cave being hunted like an
animal.
Even Jesus, with the hosannas still ringing in His ears from the triumphant entry into
Jerusalem, now prays alone, cold, tormented, sweating blood, and surrounded by
sleeping disciples. The battlements of heaven are waiting for that unmistakable ring of
genuine obedience where the dragon of human nature has been met and beheaded.
Not my will but Thy will be done!” Before the crown comes the bitter cup. It must be
swallowed to the bitter dregs.
So then, what is the Lord really looking for? A servant who knows that the cup
cannot pass. Take heart if you wish that it would pass. Even Jesus asked if it was
necessary to drink. But He did not ask to escape because of fear of pain or selfishness.
He asked because, for the first time in eternity, He would be separated from the Father.
He knew that the plan to save man would have to break His Father’s heart. Only
Abraham and Isaac on Mount Moriah could begin to understand the grief.
Herein lies the truth that releases the glory. In repenting of sin, we rid ourselves of
evil but in the dark night of the soul, we surrender the things we dearly love, the things
we can’t readily identify as being in conflict with God. Here the issue is not right and
wrong, but high and low purposes of living. Spiritual awakening is not simply getting rid
of sin, it is giving God what He wants.
Again and again I have tried to stress that we must conclude with iron resolve that
there is no substitute for revival. It is higher ground we must reach because the flood is
rising. No point of return can exist, no alternative can be considered. For fire to fall and
consume the sacrifice, it must be innocent and without blemish, but, most of all, it must
be on the altar to stay. Under every other circumstance our nature can hide, but in this
dark night it screams for its way, and its many tentacles are exposed.
The protest was immediate, “Why this waste?” screamed the apostles, led by Judas
Iscariot. Their outrage was almost convincing. The ointment was worth a year’s salary.
It could have been used to feed the poor, they argued (actually, Judas wanted to steal
it). This is the entire issue with revival. They wanted to do something for God. Mary
knew it was time to do something to God. The time has come to pour out our best on
God. Jesus said, “The poor you have with you always.” Good deeds are always
available.
America is spiritually dying because God sales reps and not channels of His glory.
We feverishly do the right things, almost as a bribe to postpone the needed pouring out
of ourselves as a living sacrifice. Again, we must no longer see the bad things as
barriers to revival, but the seemingly good. We can’t dole out precious ointment to the
poor doses that don’t cure them or honor God. We must be poured out on God!
Spiritual awakening means that the faithful become fiery, the decent become
dynamic, and the acceptable become excellent. But, most of all, we become
distinguished with our evil, and totally dissatisfied with our good. We realize that now is
the time to pull out all the stops. No program is sacred, no worthy project is worth
enough. None of the ointment can be spared. It is revival or death!
As I said before, the nucleus of the atom depresses right before fission and in that
lies another key parallel to revival…the nucleus explodes from that depressed condition.
It does not split when it looks inflated and energetic but rather when it is shrunken and
lifeless.
Revival comes out of nowhere by sovereign timing. The prayer core is ready to fall
from exhaustion but hangs on by its confidence in the faithfulness of God. Jehovah
detects that special quality that can be rewarded with revival. An eviction notice falls
with a loud crash on the porch of the local satanic supervisor. Angels receive their
invasion orders. The prayer core looks up and sees the glory coming. The roar of God
is about to be heard in the land once more.
All of the sudden, you hit a brick wall. The power is gone. God’s presence seems to have lifted. Your prayers fell trapped in your mouth. A deep despair settles in. You feel physically drained. That is the “dark night of the soul.”
Dark Night of the Soul
Friday, February 14, 2014