Can You Hear It?

It’s getting louder and louder, it’s thundering sound simply cannot be ignored.

The declarations of the saints are calling out and heaven is taking notice.

The generations are speaking and making their voices heard.

What was once old is becoming new again, but with new wineskins and fresh expressions.

There’s a ground swell, a percolating readiness for transformation right before our very eyes.

It’s Renewal.

A robust move of the Holy Spirit is in our midst, fueled by surrendered hearts and coupled with a relentless pursuit of his presence and an ongoing exaltation of a holy God.

Renewal happens when a life is brought out of a state of unconsciousness, it’s alive. People who have wandered aimlessly for decades have found a sense of being and purpose. Perhaps an alternative meaning to being “woke” in our present day. This is good, very good.

I’ve experienced it in worship. There’s been a fresh wind, an anointing on the songwriters of this day, anchored by the voices of the redeemed. Something’s different.

Across our communities, people now desire not necessarily a slower pace, but a more sustainable pace. One that allows for margin, for room to live, to see those around us and to be seen by a loving Heavenly Father. It’s one of our deepest human desires, to be seen for whom we truly are.

Our plumbline for personal identity is off-centered without continually entering into the presence of a creative God who meticulously and intentionally crafted each detail of our being.

But what about the seemingly endless chaos and uncertainty in the world around us?

This is nothing new. Sure there’s uncertainty, always has been. But unless we’ve given permission for the restlessness of the world around us to order our lives, the steadfast faith we have in a triumphant God reigns victorious. So what do we do?

We stop. He moves.

We rest. He replenishes.

We wait. He speaks.

It’s in his power and presence where the assurance and promises of a sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God are revealed. This is the way of the believer. We recognize and rest in the truth that waiting on the Lord is power, that much of what we experience on this side of heaven has little to do with our ability to control, but rather to receive and respond.

And so it’s with this, a posture of humility to receive and respond, I’m choosing to see what’s before me. Renewal.

This is my testimony: a living, loving and merciful heavenly Father has redeemed me and I’m here to declare his goodness and mercy all the days of my life, and I’m not alone.