Hello ICC Family!
Last night turned out to be a very special time. I knew that ICC had held its services at Harbour Lake Baptist Church for several years in the early 2000’s. But I did not know how many special events for members of our congregation had taken place at that church! Because of this we had a good turnout of ICC people at the Harbour Lake Unity revival. And after the service last night it was a blessing to see people from these churches sharing memories and catching up. It truly was a picture of unity. And I pray that it was also a life-bringing time of worship and Word for everybody there. For that is the essence of revival - a bringing of new life. Abundant life! I shared this verse with everyone last night:
“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
John 10:10 (KJV)
I told this story last night as well… As missionaries we would come back on our stateside assignments every few years, and one of the things I always enjoyed doing was to take a few days to camp and hike by myself – just to unplug and spend some restful time with the Lord. I usually would go to the same campground in Great Smoky Mountain National Park each time. I never really had an agenda at all other than to spend time reading, praying, sleeping, and hiking. I didn’t really have the gear to do any heavy, extensive backpacking, and that would not have been very relaxing, so each day I liked to take my lunch and my Bible and hike until I found a nice spot and then I would stop there and read for a while. And then I would move on down the trail until I found the next good spot. I often would pick a passage of Scripture to memorize as I was hiking.
One year I was on my retreat and I decided to do a different hiking loop than I had ever done before. It didn’t start out very well because I walked for over an hour and still had not come to one place that had a nice stream flowing by or had a pretty view. It was incredibly dry and overgrown and dusty, and I had also been going downhill pretty much from the start, so of course all I could think about was that at some point I was going to have to walk uphill to get back to my car. Pretty soon that one hour had turned into two and then three. And then all of a sudden…. I lost the trail. Until that point the trail had been very easy to follow. It was wide and seemed at least fairly well used. But it just disappeared. So, I spent the next hour hunting for where in the world the trail went from that point. It was frustrating more than anything… I grew up camping and hiking. I had a map and a compass and knew how to use them. There had been no scenery, no views, no cool place to sit. I had not seen one other person. The whole day was not what I had hoped for or experienced in the past.
The Psalm that I was reading, meditating on, and memorizing that day was Psalm 40. And the first three verses say this:
1 I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. 2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him. (NIV)
I finally gave up trying to find the trail and sat down to eat lunch. I was resigned to just head back up the same dry and dusty trail I had just come down. But as I sat there eating and continuing to memorize those verses, the Holy Spirit woke me up. He reminded me that those verses were true - that they were an invitation to cry out to the Lord. And so I did. I gave him my frustrations and asked him to help me see things clearly (not just referring to my situation that day on the trail). And after just a few minutes, God opened my eyes and showed me the trail. For some reason I had not noticed that the trail cut almost straight back to the right. But once I saw it, it was plain as day. The Lord lifted me out of that pit, and as I hiked back, He gave me a new song, and a lesson that I have not forgotten to this day.
Every one of us needs revival at some point or another. We wait for God to hear our cry and turn his head toward us and lift us out of the pit that we are in. We need a firm place to stand. We long for a new song to be put in our hearts. And hopefully we want to be revived not just for ourselves, but so many will see and fear the LORD and put their trust in him. The good news is this… That is God’s will for your life as well! He wants to do just that for you! And He promises to do it! But you have to stop and quit trying to do everything on your own. You have to give your life to him once again - give him control. And then be willing to count the cost and follow him.
We are considering how to do that very thing these days at ICC. We are going back to basics and examining God’s calling on our lives and our commitments to him. I look forward to you joining us as we pray and pursue revival in the hearts of all of us at ICC.
Blessings to you all. And know that I’m praying for you!
Pastor Aaron