The One Where the Church Cried Out

I’m tired. Are you?

I’ve been discouraged. Have you?

I have serious concerns about the trajectory of our nation. Of the Church. Of friends and family. Do you?

Everywhere I look, I see confusion and division. I see people I love and respect, Christians, eating each other alive over positions on every conceivable issue. 

I search for truth about COVID, about the election, about schools, sports, weather, crime, the police, the politicians—every source has its own version of the “facts.”

Welcome to 2020. If this were an episode of Friends, it would be called, “The One Where Everyone Was Mad About Everything.”

When viewing our situation through shortsighted human eyes, it looks to me like we’re in a real mess—one none of us would have asked for. But when I look at the world through eternity’s eyes, lately I’ve been thinking: We needed 2020. We needed this wake-up call. 

This Present Babylon 

I’m no expert on ancient cultures or end-times prophecy, but as I read many of the Old Testament texts, I can’t help but see parallels to our current situation. Just look at the descriptions of Babylonian culture found in Isaiah 47 (CSB, emphasis mine), and consider how they reflect the world around you:

“Go down and sit in the dust,
Virgin Daughter Babylon.
Sit on the ground without a throne,
Daughter Chaldea!
For you will no longer be called pampered and spoiled.” (v. 1)

“Daughter Chaldea,
sit in silence and go into darkness.
For you will no longer be called mistress of kingdoms. . . .
You said, ‘I will be the queen forever.’
You did not take these things to heart
or think about their outcome.” (vv. 6–7)

“So now hear this, lover of luxury,
who sits securely,
who says to herself,
‘I am, and there is no one else.’” (v. 8)

“Your wisdom and knowledge
led you astray. . . .
Devastation will happen to you suddenly
and unexpectedly.” (vv. 10–11)

“So take your stand with your spells
and your many sorceries,
which you have wearied yourself with from your youth. . . .
You are worn out with your many consultations. . . .
no one can save you.” (v. 12, 15)

I’m not trying to paint the picture that any particular country is Babylon, but I am saying that in this present age, much of humanity exhibits symptoms of Babylon’s disease: gross pride, a refusal to obey, a hate for discomfort, and an endless succession of DIY remedies. 

Some of those remedies have been successful, temporarily, but what if I told you about the only lasting solution? If you are weary, brokenhearted, disillusioned about the course of your country, the Church, your friends and family—if you are tired and weary like me—I want to invite you to take the advice of Elisabeth Elliot, one of our ministry’s heroes. This one little sentence got her through challenges that would have crippled most women to the point of paralysis:

“Do the next thing.”

The next thing we’re going to do—together—is cry out to the Lord in earnest prayer and repentance. Here at Revive Our Hearts, we’ve set aside the entire month of October to do exactly that. Cry Out! will be more than a prayer emphasis: it’s a “for such a time as this” appeal, urging women of every age and life situation to cry out to God in desperation, longing, and repentance. 

At Revive Our Hearts we often say, “there has never been a revival that was not birthed in fervent prayer; we believe nothing of eternal value will be accomplished apart from prayer.” This month, we will put feet to our words, crying out to God, expecting Him to do big things. 

And what if He does? What if this movement could actually change the trajectory of 2020, of your home, of your church, of your country? What if 2020 could be “The One Where the Church Cried Out and God Moved”? Do you believe that it could? I do. 

Be a part of the only lasting solution. Take the challenge, and watch God work.