A few mornings ago at 3 am, Annie’s alarm on her food bag went off. A little background:
1. Annie gets her food through a tube in her stomach since her brain injury.
2. Annie doesn’t have enough stomach capacity to eat enough during the day to gain/maintain her weight. So,
3. Annie “eats” at night. (I eat at night too, but that’s another post.)
Now, the g-tube extension thing has a tendency to bend after we’ve used it for a few days. So when she rolls, or turns in her sleep, sometimes the tube bends onto itself. The food bag pump then senses that no food is getting through, so the alarm goes off. Really LOUD. At 3 am.
My job is to run into her room and shut it off before she wakes up. No, my fantasy is that I’ll run in and shut it off before she wakes up. Reality is that I stumble in before I can focus, and fumble around until I can shut the thing off, thereby increasing the chances that she may fall back asleep before waking up entirely. Last night was a good night. She fell back to sleep soon after. My adrenal system works fine, however, so I was wide awake. Thinking about being awake, and awakened and awakening...
Ever wonder why the Great Awakening in the 1740’s was called the Great Awakening?
Why are Revivals called revivals? What is it that needs to be revived?
Why do we have we a tendency toward spiritual lethargy or complacency?
How might He be trying to wake us up right now?
Any ideas?
Jean
“Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” Ephesians 5:1
6 comments:
I have sometimes wondered just how different our culture is from the time of the "revivals". And, if the greatest commandment is to love God and love others, does that perhaps give us a clue as to where to begin ie; love God and love others more? And, then, what does that look like? Hmmmmm.......
Marilyn
You're right--the greatest commandment is to love God and love your neighbor as yourself. I think that more of loving God and loving others is definitely a result of any real Revival.
But what wakes us up to WANT to love God and love others?
Wow. I think I need more coffee.
I think perhaps it starts out as faithfully standing in truth (e.g. loving Him, which includes worship, praise, obedience,asking daily for Spirit to fill us and surrendering to His will), and THEN, we feel the hunger. Our wants, I believe, are closely tied to our feelings. They may be valid, but not always reliable. There are days when I'm not all about wanting to love God, or love on anyone else, for that matter. But I do. Because I'm called to. He provides the rest.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Ps. 51:10
Yes, Gretchen, I agree--when we confess our sin to God--like the rest of Psalm 51 describes in detail--then He puts a new Spirit in us. Then, we are able to do what Marilyn said: we have the power and desire to love God and love others out of a heart that has been awakened by His Spirit.
So, what we DO flows out of who we ARE in Christ:
We can forgive because we've been forgiven.
We can love sacrificially because Jesus loved us sacrificially--giving His life to pay for our sin.
We can be generous because God has been generous to us.
Thanks for your thoughts--add any more as they float through your mind!
:)
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Corinthians 5:17
"We often have a tinted view of revival as a time of glory and joy and swelling numbers queuing to enter the churches. That is only part of the story. Before the glory and joy, there is conviction; and that begins with the people of God. There are tears of godly sorrow. There are wrongs to put right, secret things...to be thrown out, and bad relationships, hidden for years, to be repaired openly. If we are not prepared for this, we had better not pray for revival." -Brian Edwards
From this week's email from National Day of Prayer....thought it was relevant.
Marilyn
Wow. That'll make you think twice, huh?
But it's what we need, and what we need to pray for.
Post a Comment