A Step Toward Revival

(The following comes from an email I sent out to my ROOTED + STRONG email friends in June 2020.)

A couple weeks ago, a group of ladies and I were talking about one of those Christian buzzwords that has been spoken about considerably more this year (2020) than before.

Repentance.

Our conversation centered around an A. W. Tozer quote that likens repentance to a wound:

“Let us beware of vain and overhasty repentance, and particularly let us beware of no repentance at all. We are a sinful race...and until the knowledge has hit hard, until it has wounded us...it has done us no good. A man can believe in total depravity and never have any sense of it for himself at all. Lots of us believe in total depravity who have never been wounded with the knowledge that we’ve sinned. Repentance is a wound I pray we may all feel.”

True repentance is viscerally felt. It is undeniable—like a wound. The remains of the wound, the sensitivity around it, the developing scab and eventual scar all serve as reminders of what happened.

Honestly, I don’t like talking about repentance. I don’t like thinking about it, because I know that it hurts—that it should hurt.

But the thing about coming to a mature understanding of repentance is that we realize the pain of repenting is far less damaging than the eternal effects of not repenting.

It’s necessary to feel the wound, to explore the pain, because on the other side is the reality of a heart returned and restored to the Father. On the other side of the pain is the beauty of living and flourishing in all the fullness of God. On the other side is REVIVAL!

Repentance Is a step toward Revival.

Let’s look at an example of this in the Bible. You can find it in 2 Kings 22-23. This is the account of the reign of King Josiah. He became king of Judah at the age of 8! Can you imagine?

In 2 Kings 23:25, it says of King Josiah:

“Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.”

He TURNED to the Lord. This signifies a repentance, a complete turn and change in action. He turned toward God.

We see the exact moment this happened in the previous chapter. We witness the wound that eventually resulted in one of the greatest revivals in the Old Testament.

“When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.” 2 Kings 22:11

And then we read a little bit later:

“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: ‘... because your heart was penitent, and you humbled yourself before the Lord...and you have torn your clothes and wept before me, I also have heard you, declares the Lord...’” 2 Kings 23:18, 19

Without going into too much detail, tearing one’s clothes in this culture was not a dignifying act, especially for a king. This simply is not something that would have been done if there were not true anguish and heart-break.

King Josiah’s heart was broken in light of his sin, in light of realizing all that God had done and the fact that he and all the people he ruled were not living in a way that honored Him. They were not living according to the Law, according to how God had commanded them to live.

In that moment of seeing and understanding his failings, King Josiah repented. He felt the wound. It was a marked moment that forever changed his life. It led to his return to the Lord, following all of His ways. And it resulted in the people returning to God as well. There was a great return to God! There was REVIVAL!

This revival could not have happened without the initial step of repentance, without that wound.

If we keep reading, we learn that King Josiah reigned for a total of 31 years. During all of that time, the people kept their hearts right with God, the environment of revival persisted. But King Josiah was killed, and, sadly, the hearts of the people began to wander away from God. King Josiah was the last “good” king. He was near the end of the line. The kings that followed did not have their hearts turned toward God, and they led the people even further away. The enemy nations were on their doorstep, eventually capturing God’s people. This was the end of the kingdom as they knew it.

I wonder if the wound of repentance that King Josiah experienced was felt by the rest of the people? We don’t read about their repentance. All we do know is that their revival didn’t last.

Wounds heal, friends. The pain of repentance eventually subsides. But I pray the resulting scars serve as a reminder of where we’ve been and how far we’ve come. May they remind us that the wonder and beauty of a heart turned toward God is worth far more than saving ourselves from the temporary pain of repenting and confessing our mistakes, shortcomings, and sin.

I can’t talk about scars without thinking of Jesus and the scars on His body. Those scars are proof of where He has been and what He has done for us. He doesn’t hide His scars. He’s not ashamed of them. His scars reveal His deep, unending love for you and me.

May our scars reveal our deep and unending love for Him. 

Let’s embrace the pain, the wound, so that we can get to the other side. Repentance is a step toward revival, friends. And I don’t know about you, but revival sounds pretty good right about now!