WAITING ON THE LORD

This is Nick. Several times a week, I see Nick sitting in the same spot in Back Bay with his camera, waiting for the birds to come. Where as I go tromping all over the place with my camera, chasing the birds (or chasing them off), Nick waits patiently for them. He sits quietly and lets them come to Him.

Nick reminds me of the students in Ashbury University who have been experiencing an outpouring of the presence of God. They didn’t go running all over the world searching for Him. They simply felt led to wait upon the Lord, to put themselves into a posture of patience, and wait for the Lord to come. And He did. He met them where they were at, overwhelming them with His presence, convicting them of their sin, lavishing them with His lovingkindness, and spilling over into the surrounding community.

So often, I think pastors like me make the mistake of thinking we need to coax God out of hiding, need to attract Him into our church buildings through louder worship sets and more eloquent messages. But if the outpouring of God's presence that we're witnessing on Ashbury's campus (and now spreading across the country) teaches us anything, it's that we can't force God to show up. And we don't need to go running off across the world chasing after Him. He's as present wherever you're reading this as He is on Ashbury's campus. He is the Creator and Sustainer of this Universe. Our world is saturated with His presence. We simply need to slow down long enough to recognize it.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;

my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning,

more than watchmen for the morning.” Psalm 130:5-6

Heaven Come Down

 

I can’t stop thinking about what’s happening at Ashbury University in Kentucky. A week ago, a routine chapel service at this little Christian college ended, but a handful of the students weren't ready to leave. They hungered for more of God's presence, so they stayed and kept singing and praying. Soon, more of the student body felt compelled to return to the chapel and the worship service continued. It's been going non-stop for 14 days so far, and now people are flying in from all over the country (and the world) to be part of it.

What is so striking is that there are no big-named personalities leading this. No fog machines or slick lighting schemes. There's not even an order of service. What is left is a group of students who are hungry for God. Not for more information about God.

God Himself.

Within the Christian community, we speak of our longing for revival, but most of us haven't witnessed it. Often, we don't even know what we're praying for when we pray for revival, we just know we hunger and thirst for more of God.

More of God.

That seems to be the hallmark of revival. In fact, Duncan Campbell, an Scottish Evangelist, defines a revival as "a community saturated with God." Not with good teaching about God. Not with cutting edge worship music. Saturated with the presence of God Himself.

I've now heard from a number of people who traveled long distances to attend the worship service on Ashbury University. They speak about how underwhelming the worship service is from a production standpoint, but how overwhelming it is with the presence of the Holy Spirit. And that makes sense. How else could you explain its longevity? When we are here for a show, we will quickly grow bored. But when we’re here for God, the quality of the singing or the message really doesn't matter. Even silence can be saturated in the presence of God. In fact, what's happening in Ashbury has long stretches of silence, but that doesn't seem to matter.

Too often, I fear the church compensates for a lack of the presence of God by fixating on the quality of the music or the message or even the mood lighting. Churches split over arguments about these secondary things. But when God shows up, those things don't matter nearly as much. They fade into the background as everyone turns their eyes to the King of Creation. As an old hymn declares, "the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace."

Here's the best part: we don't need to travel to Kentucky to step into the presence of God. The King of Creation isn't contained within a place. He pervades this world He created, and He is fully available to any of us who hunger and thirst for Him. He is no more present on Ashbury’s campus than wherever you are reading this. And that means you can have an encounter with Him here and now.

"The Lord is near to all who call upon Him,

To all who call upon Him in truth." Psalm 145:18