New Inspiration.

It seems so long since I last wrote anything here. I have felt myself to have been very busy during that time, but I have also been trying to discern the direction in which the Lord is leading me.

One of the things that has kept me busy since last time is that I was invited to do some lecturing in a Bible school. I had attended this school myself a few years ago, and found it very inspiring, and so I was honoured to join the team.

One of the modules I was asked to teach on was the subject of Church History and Revival, with me teaching from the 18th Century Revivals right through to the present day. This was like a gift for me, since I have long been inspired by what God did through people like Wesley and Whitefield.

As I have been preparing to teach, though, it has come back to me afresh just what astonishing things the Lord has done among us in the past, and it makes me realise just how pale our vision of God so often seems to be in comparison.

I'm thinking of the prayer meeting in the Hebrides in Scotland about sixty years ago when a blacksmith told God that His honour was at stake, and challenged Him to do something about it. The accounts say that the building shook, and then the presence of God swept powerfully through a village where there were few Christians, and where there had been active opposition to the revival.

Following the prayer, in the middle of the night lights were coming on in houses, and some people were even leaving their homes. The presence of God was so powerful in the village that people were under strong conviction and wanted to do something about it. The reports say that within two days every person between the ages of 12 and 20 had been converted, and every young man between the ages of 18 and 35 was attending revival prayer meetings.

The town where I live has been called spiritually dificult, but the account above teaches me that nowhere is too difficult for God. But how hungry are we? How desperate are we to see God move in our cities, towns and villages today? How willing are we to pay the cost of banging on heaven's door until God answers and covers us with the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea?