Rhythms for Revival: Rejoice!
As a singer and musician, I love the word rhythm. It’s light, lyrical, and indicates a sense of movement.
My hope for you as you walk through each of our revival rhythms is for God to move you from a place of survival to revival. Because movement stimulates growth - for our mind, body, & soul.
For those feeling like you are wandering in the middle of a wilderness season with no promised land in sight, let’s look at the Israelites of the Old Testament.
One of the very first things to note about the Israelites journey through the wilderness after they are delivered from Egypt is that God led them there.
Exodus 13:17-18 says, “When Pharoah finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land. God said, ‘If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.’ So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.”
Later in the book of Hosea, God speaks through the prophet Hosea to the wayward Israelites and says in verse 14, “But then I will win her back once again. I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.” Later in verse 19-20, He continues, “I will make you my wife forever, showing you righteousness and justice, unfailing love and compassion. I will be faithful to you and make you mine, and you will finally know me as the Lord.”
Once again, He is the one leading the Israelites into the desert.
His purpose? To guide and protect. To speak tenderly. To show righteousness, justice, unfailing love, and compassion.
In those wilderness seasons, God led His people into the desert. But in many other wilderness seasons throughout the Bible, we find that people have fled into their wilderness due to other sinful, broken people or life circumstances outside their control.
Hagar & Ishmael were cast out into the desert to die by a jealous & angered Sarai.
David had to flee into the wilderness to escape the ruthless attempts on his life by Saul and his own son, Absalom.
Multiple generations of Israelites find themselves in the wilderness between exile, captivity, and freedom.
How about you? Have you fled into your wilderness due to circumstances beyond your control or perhaps you have been led by God as a time of preparation and refining for a season to come? It is important to remember that either way, God walks with us and offers to lead us through…to be our Waymaker.
A main theme that I have found threaded throughout each wilderness experience that is essential to both survival and revival is the rhythm of God-centered, God-honoring worship.
When God delivers His people from captivity in Egypt, He teaches them how to live through the Ten Commandments and one of His instructions for a healthy lifestyle is the rhythm of Sabbath. The purpose of Sabbath was to rest from work (as God first demonstrated within creation) and ultimately surrender one day a week to be dedicated in community worship to God.
Worship refocuses and recenters our hearts on God and God alone.
Worship is defined as “that which we give our hearts or adoration to”, “to render religious reverence and homage to”, “to feel an adoring reverence or regard for (any person or thing).
We were made to worship.
Paul David Tripp writes, “Human beings by their very nature are worshipers. Worship is not something we do; it defines who we are. You cannot divide human beings into those who worship and those who don’t. Everybody worships; it’s just a matter of what, or whom, we serve.”
God created us to worship. And we are made to worship Him and Him alone. Worship is supposed to be our response to this Creator God who has breathed His very life within us, who relentlessly pursues us with His redeeming love and who beckons us to draw near to Him.
Worship will fill and fulfill us. This is what we were made for - communion with God as our first and only. When we look back at the Israelites in the desert - the purpose for their leaving Egypt was to WORSHIP God in the wilderness.
Worship takes the focus off of us and our wilderness season and back on to God, our Waymaker THROUGH the wilderness.
Even Jesus had to walk through a wilderness season - in fact, He was led by the Holy Spirit into His wilderness season. He was led to face the enemy and ultimately He triumphed - and do you remember what His last temptation was about?
Worship.
Matthew 4:8-10 says, “Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. ‘I will give it all to you,’ he said, ‘if you will kneel down and worship me.’
‘Get out of here, Satan,’ Jesus told him. ‘For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.’”
The next verse says, “Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus.” Revival.
Jesus offers us revival like this in our wilderness season as well.
My friend Wendy, says, “With Jesus, survival turns into revival”.
When we keep our eyes fixed on Jesus rather than our circumstances, we invite Him to begin moving us from survival to revival. The psalmist says in Psalm 85:6, “revive us again, that we may rejoice in You!”
Revival leads to REJOICING; worshiping God.
We focus on His goodness, His faithfulness, His unfailing love. It doesn’t mean we just forget what we are walking through but we choose to worship God in spite of our circumstances.
Instead of numbing, distracting, stuffing, and suppressing, we need to be offering hearts of worship in the middle of our wilderness. But worship doesn’t always look like rejoicing - there is a journey to get there. And in fact, worship may look very different than we expected…
The prefix “re” means again & again…day by day…moment by moment.
Our rhythms for revival all start with this prefix “re” because these are rhythms that can become a part of our life day after day, moment by moment, again and again.
We worship through each of our revival rhythms because each of them help us to refocus and recenter on God as first and only - and ultimately all of our revival rhythms lead to REJOICING.
We release our burdens at the foot of the cross and make room for Him within our lives,
we remember Whose we are and give thanks to Him for His faithfulness and goodness.
We choose to remain in Him above all else,
we receive the power and presence of the Holy Spirit within us,
and we rise up to resist our enemy
by rehearsing God’s truth which literally paves new pathways within our brain and body.
Revival.
The same God of the Israelites in the wilderness is the One we belong to and worship today - the God that inspired Isaiah 43:19 which reads “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
Music is powerful. Worship is powerful.
Worship moves us from earth to eternity.
It changes us, grows us, revives us. Revival is possible.
Listen to Paul’s advice in Colossians 3:16,
“Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom He gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.”
We were made to worship. Here on earth and for all eternity.
Will you choose to rejoice today? To sing out and give the Lord thanks and gratitude for who He is and all that He has done for us? I always love singing the song ‘Gratitude’ by Brandon Lake or ‘Great Are You Lord’ by All Sons & Daughters. Find a song (or songs) and start your own worship playlist today!
