As we consider the current state of things in America and around the world, a sense of pessimism and despair can certainly fall over us. There are many desperate and deadly situations around the world. Also, the current choices for president of the United States have left most of us wondering, “Where have all the truly godly leaders gone? Are there any out there at all? Has it ever been this bad before?”
Believe it or not the answer is, “Yes, it has been this bad before and even worse.” In the 1940’s the entire world was at war. Depending on which source you read, the number of people who died as a direct result of World War II ranges anywhere from sixty to eighty million. That is a staggering number! It has been over seventy years since WWII ended, and it really is impossible for our generation to comprehend the magnitude of those years.
In 1968, America was in the process of electing a new president. We were greatly divided as a nation. We were divided over race, poverty, the drug and sexual revolutions, and Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. were both assassinated. Riots were common place in the streets and on college campuses. How in the world did this country survive the sixties?
The good news is that during these two traumatic decades and immediately following, there were two great movements of God. The years of World War II and following saw the rise of many great ministries and evangelical leaders. People in America and Great Britain turned to God in desperate times of fasting and prayer. God molded and raised up men like Billy Graham, Stephen Olford, Leonard Ravenhill, Warren Wiersbe, and Rees Howells as well as others. These men were shaped by the challenges of their day. Many new and anointed ministries came out of the decade of the forties and the early fifties. Rees Howells, for example, had a powerful ministry of intercessory prayer during the war years that saw many specific and miraculous answers to prayer in some of Britain’s darkest hours. Following the war, churches saw record numbers of baptisms and church attendance soared. Also, God blessed and prospered America in many ways.
Of course, in the latter part of the sixties and early seventies, God sent a wave of revival across America that became known as “The Jesus Movement.” Lives were radically changed, young people were on fire for Christ and those of us who were older children or teenagers at the time were affected for life. God brought a glorious good out of those truly troubled times.
Yes, it looks pretty bad right now, but it has been bad before. Will we wring our hands and give up? Will we just sit around on our blessed assurance and hope that Jesus hurries up and raptures us out of this mess? Or, will we hold on until the harvest comes?(Galatians 6:9) Will we repent and desperately, fervently seek God like never before? We could be on the verge of the next great move of God. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to miss it. I want me, my family and my church to be a part of what God wants to do. How about you?
There was one other time I would like to remind you of when the world was in a dark place just before God did something amazing. Isaiah put it this way, “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined.” (Is. 9:2) Matthew tells us that Jesus and His ministry on earth were the fulfillment of this prophecy. It is important to note that immediately following Matthew’s quotation of this verse he records the words of Jesus that need to be heard again today, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
Let us pray and believe that God’s people will repent and that a mighty revival of God is at hand. Two verses after Jesus’ call to repent He issued another call, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” While we pray for revival let us also go with Christ after the lost like never before. He has left us with a mission to fulfill and a message to proclaim. He is our only Hope in these times and for all of time.
In Christ’s service,
Allen
theamenministry 
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