Another fantastic YM camp has just concluded. Last year we thought we had set a record with a 3.5 hour worship. This year, God had greater things in stored for us. For the first time, more than 100 youths gathered on the last night to pray and intercede for more than 3 hours into the early hours of the morning. There was a very strong move by the Spirit for repentance and re-dedication. Many were on their knees in repentance. Leaders gathered to repent of the disunity and pride within the leadership. The call was made for leaders and youths alike to clean up the idols in our lives and give to God a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to Him. Hours earlier, during the speaker sessions, hundreds of youths rose to their feet to gave their lives in re-dedication to God. Hearts were broken before Him. Lips confessed His Lordship over our lives.
Herein lies the sparks of true revival. For true revival lies not in how spectacular the manifestations are, how much crying or falling over there is, or even how intense the worship is. True revival lies in the depths of a repentant heart. In 2 Chron 7:14 God promises that if we as a church were to humble ourselves and pray and seek His face and turn from our wicked ways, then He WILL hear from heaven and forgive our sins and heal our land. Repentance and surrender are the only marks of true revival. For without them, revival is but spiritless emotionalism.
Yet after the music stops, after the euphoria of the camp ends and we go back to the routine of our daily lives, how much will really change? For many, the loneliness and struggles will return in greater force than before. For the higher you have been, the harder you fall when reality hits you. Where is the power and the wonder and the Spirit? Was it just a dream to which we have woken up from? We find ourselves longing to re-create what has passed, barely holding on till the next "spiritual high". How do we keep the fire of revival burning?
The answer is painfully simple. The true marks of revival are repentance and surrender. The reason for the power and the experience during events like a camp is simply due to the presence of repentance and surrender. For it is only when we are empty that the Spirit can fill us with Himself. When we return to our normal lives, the temptation is for this repentance and surrender to stop. There is no longer the external motivations of our camp mates and camp speakers pushing us to repent and surrender. And when the repentance and surrender stops, we fill ourselves once again with pride and sin, and push the Spirit out of our lives. The result - the intimacy with God is lost and the experience of His power and His presence fades. The solution is therefore to continue to discipline ourselves to walk in daily repentance and surrender. We hold each other accountable and continue to encourage each other. If only we were to then walk daily in repentance and surrender, we will experience the fullness of the Spirit every day of our lives, every time we open the bible, every time we pray, every time we worship. For God is the same yesterday, today and forever. It is we who change and are wavering in our surrender to Him. Don't wait for the next camp. Let's keep the fire of revival burning today.