personal recovery and
by Dr. Paul S. Rees
revival •
“Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12). O ur trouble lies in our unwillingness to follow God’s recipe for spiritual recovery and revival. We are too easy upon ourselves. We are not yet ready to get on our knees and come clean with God. In short, we are not willing to “ break up the fallow ground,” sow the seeds of truth, and then let the great “ Lord of the Harvest” rain righteousness upon us. We need seriously to face up to Hosea’s message. If America wants a spiritual awakening, she can have it. If the Church wants a revival, she can have it. If you want a revival in your own heart, you can have it. But let us all remember that we can never have it on any other terms than those which God has laid down— the confessing and forsaking of all known sin. God’s word to us is plain: “ Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly par don” (Isa. 55:7). “ It Is Time To Seek The Lord!” In general, what attitudes the parent can show to ward the difficulties of life are very important. It may be that there is unemployment or that the work demands a great deal of time or that there are questions in regard to advancement in the work. Beyond the field of occu pation, illness may strike in the home or near it, and death may come. Where the parent is able to cope with these vicissitudes with true courage and calmness, the child will learn an invaluable lesson in how an adult behaves. With the strength of his parents behind him, he will be able to undertake his share of the responsibil ities as it becomes necessary for him to do so. On the oth er hand, if the parent displays panic or collapses under the burden of living, the child’s development will be indefinitely delayed. He will be unable to share in the responsibilities of the family life and he himself will reflect the parent’s fear and weakness. By a proper ability to live his life, the parent shows his child that each person has responsibilities beyond the family and how to cope with them. There may be some value at this time in discussing in a broader manner the subject of the relationship be tween the parents’ responsibilities to his home and chil dren and to his Christian vocation. Actually, some of the problems which are raised are of a general nature and do not specifically relate to Christian living. A doc tor who truly loves his family will often find himself torn between his responsibilities to his children and to patients who have committed themselves to his care. This is true of most occupations which involve a degree of service. In the middle of a storm the telephone lineman is expected to perform his duties to maintain communi cations within the community even if it means that APRIL, 1962 There are Christians who think that revivals come only when God is of a mind to send
them. From the standpoint of Scripture, I chal lenge that viewpoint. God is always of a mind to blot out the guilt of confessing sinners. God is eager to pour out His Spirit upon His con secrated people. God is yearning with desire to send revival to His confessing, repenting, be lieving, praying Church.
The delay is not in God. It is in ourselves. It is time for us to seek the Lord! The trouble is we are not will ing to break up the fallow ground of our hearts. We are not willing to go all the.way with Christ. We need to stop dilly-dallying, and begin in dead earnest to seek the face of Almighty God! It is time for this nation to seek the Lord! It is time for Christians everywhere to seek the Lord. Our hands are not altogether clean. Our bigotries and jealousies, our comfortable way of picking others to pieces and en joying our polite cannibalism, our unconcern about the crying needs of people out of Christ— is all an indict ment! We sorely need revival!
Then in Heaven’s name let us have it! God’s skies are bursting with blessing! Why do we not break up our fallow ground and receive the delicious drenching of His Spirit’s power and peace?
he will be gone from his home for several days on end. The policeman or detective in the midst of a difficult case must often disappoint his children who are plan ning some outing with him. A lawyer may find that in the course of a crucial trial family illness divides his loyalties. In Christian vocations this normal and natural prob lem is often accentuated by what I believe are mistaken applications of Christian teachings. I have heard a moth er asked by some mission executive before whom she appeared as a candidate for missionary service whether her love for God came before her love for her children. It was implied that if a situation on the field demanded it she must be willing to neglect her children’s welfare in order to serve God and to perform His will. It is my opinion that this presentation of the problem arises from a complete misunderstanding of the nature of Christian parenthood. I believe we may assume that every Christian parent considers his children to be placed in his charge by the will of God. The proper care of his children is a part of God’s will for his life. To neglect them is to deny the faith and be worse than an infidel. I do not believe that it is a question in any case whether the man or woman must serve God or care for his children but rather how he can perform God’s will in his life in the care of his children and in the other parts of God’s program for him. In short, I believe that the emphasis should not be on which comes first, serving the Lord, or serving the children. I believe the proper question every Christian should ask himself and should review frequently is how he may best fulfill all parts of God’s will for his life. 17
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