Revival
for Wales
Seen through the eyes of a stranger in Paradise - Mike Endicott
Our
prophets prophecy it – our Intercessors pray for it – our spiritual warriors
do warfare for it – so where is it?
Revival is breaking out in countless places around the world – why
can’t we have it back in Wales?
One
prophesies that revival will sweep down on Aber-here, another that it
will come on Aber-there. Yet more prophecies tell of the coming of a sweeping
force around Aber-all-over-the-place.
One leader tells us "Not yet!" because we have too many
denominations per head of population and another hauls us all into forgiving
each other, all over again, for the past.
Yet another says that the spirit of Revival never left Wales – we are
just sitting on it somehow. Then again it may just be all our fault anyway as we
have the greatest number of these-sort-of-people and the most of
that-sort-of-thing, a wide range that varies from violent crime to teenage
suicide and pregnancy, from Freemasonry to dysfunctional families.
Wait a minute – perhaps it’s all the fault of the national flag!
Now
wait a moment, you leaders of the church, you’re confusing us!
The Welsh blood is very precious.
They are easily short-changed by leadership with no vision of their
spiritual beauty or the depths of their souls.
The
people have their emotions very near their skins - it is precisely their history
as a downtrodden nation that makes it so.
The nearness of their emotions to the surface is a blessing to God – it
allows them to be a spiritual people. They, above all European nations, are the
swelling fruit of grace. Sometimes it is not too difficult to catch the sound of
an extra heartbeat in the heart of God when the Welsh are lifted in prayer.
The pierced heart of the nation has been gently held in the pierced hands
of God’s Son for almost a thousand years and who says:
"Arise,
shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you."
(Isaiah 60:1).
Both
Biblically and in modern times we find that names are so important – they hang
over us and label us for life. No
one today would call their son Judas or Adolf or Barabbas.
There is a name of great beauty that hangs over this nation of Wales –
David.
Isaiah
9:6-7 speaks about the GOVERNMENT resting upon his shoulders and Isaiah
16:5 speaks of the THRONE being established in the Davidic Tabernacle.
God
is continually looking for a Davidic people on which he can bestow Davidic
authority - a people in whose ear he can whisper strategy to advance the
Kingdom, to enforce the putting of all enemies under his feet.
But
for now the church begins to get anxious. Numbers and financial resources
dwindle and the leadership is confused. The conservative establishment invokes
structural changes to design even more structural changes while the
‘free-thinkers’ bring in more and more missionaries from overseas to keep
enthusiasm at a peak. Well, a thousand years of history just goes to show that
if it’s foreign then it must be better than us.
They
have all promised us so much and yet so little has come of it.
When
the Shunammite woman whose longed-for son had died reached Elisha on the holy
mountain, she took hold of his feet. His servant tried to push her away, but the
man of God said, "Leave her alone!
She is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and has not
told me why."
"Did
I ask you for a son, my lord?" she said and did we not long for revival?
"Didn't I tell you, `Don't raise my hopes'?"
Little
changes – God is still the most under-rated resource in the Church today and
we have to hang onto the ankles of our leaders until they reveal His grace and
power to us in full flood. Elisha’s
first plan to revive the woman’s son didn’t work – he had to be persuaded
by her demands to solve the problem.
They
have given us missions and outreach programmes, new forms of worship and taken
away our pews. They have
organised conferences and meetings for us, lay training courses and a variety of
semi-secular activities, but they have not revealed one great truth – that
there is only one vehicle fit for the display of God’s divine splendour and
it’s us. The Welsh human
being is perfect for the job.
Thirty
years of living in Wales has brought me to a place of deep love and respect for
this battered tribe and a deep realisation of God’s healing call to them to
stand up. How I wish
they would take their spiritual leaders by the ankles and not let go until they
have been set free into the holy people they are called to be.
It is through their holiness that everyone will see the Lord – it is
through their boldness of joy that the sheep will be gathered.
Come
on, Leaders, stop confusing us and show us the way!