What’s Wrong With Us?

Our culture is obsessed with being comfortable and feeling good. Large amounts of money are spent on everything from spa treatments, gym memberships, hand and foot manicures to room and house make overs; any of which would have pleased a King, in years gone by.

In our pursuit of the comfortable, we find it most difficult to just find time in our busy lives for meditating on spiritual things. Stopping life’s merry-go-round long enough to just “be still and know that I am God”, is almost an impossibility these days. If this column gets too lengthy, it is no longer “comfortable” reading for some. We want and desire the “quick”, the “easy” and the “painless”. Television and movies have caused us to hunger for the entertaining over the inspirational. This does not reflect well on the character of our culture nor our own selves.

Why do we not see revival in our homes and churches? Why are our young people still lost and running after the world? Because most Christians want an easy, comfortable Christianity. My friend, that kind is not found in scripture.

We want an automatic revival. Most Christians want to see their children saved and serving God, just because they took them to church faithfully while they were growing up. Like that is all it will take for the salvation of our children’s souls? We want gain without pain. We want reward without prayer. We want the resurrection power in our lives without going through the grave of dying to self. We selfish Christians want life without experiencing death. We want God to bless us, but we don’t want to sacrifice much of our own selves to see that blessing come.

When a true hardship or health crisis hits us, we can become devastated, almost shocked that God would allow such a thing in our lives. Yes, it can be scary at first. But that is the perfect moment when true faith rises up to meet the Source of that faith...and we can be at peace in the midst of the storm.

There will be no real revival with an attitude of comfortable Christianity. There is no brokenness in that kind of thinking.

You and I will never meet God in real revival, until we are willing to meet him in that place of brokenness, found at the end....of self. Coming to the end of our self-sufficiency.... that place of “there’s nothing more I can do”, is the best place for the Christian who wants real revival in their life.

Psalm 138:6 “Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly."

Isaiah 57:15 “For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.”

Humility and a contrite, broken heart is the only way to revival. Now we know what’s wrong with us. Do we care?