A Life-Giving Scene in My Mind

Roy King 01/23/24

WHY SHOULD YOU READ THIS ARTICLE?

Would you like to catch a personal glimpse of how God is working in my heart today?  Join me

What is this article all about?

I was alone with God, reading a couple of books and meditating on 1 Corinthians 15, reading it slowly with pen in hand in three different translations, one after another.  I began to pray, and suddenly, God interrupted my thought words to Him.

A vivid image flooded my mind.

I was looking out, and as far as I could see were the faces of young people.  They were beyond counting.  They were dressed in different clothing and had different hair and skin color.  They were 10 to 16 years old.

They were running, not like mobs running away from danger, but in one direction, like running a race.  They were all smiling, laughing, and full of joy.  They were carrying torches of bright light.  They were filling what appeared in the background as a globe in the shadows.  They were covering the world.  There were no other people visible in the scene.  But I was there.  I was cheering and laughing with them, and tears ran down my face.  Tears of joy like I have rarely ever tasted.  I am unsure how long it lasted, but when Pandora walked by and asked if I was okay, I was back in my home in my favorite chair.

Fifty years ago, I had a similar experience with a different scene.

I will be 70 in July of 2024.  When I was 19, I had been a Christian for a year and was in college.  I had been receiving some training in How to Pray by Campus Crusade for Christ, now CRU.  Again, I was alone and in a focused, particular prayer time.  My roommate, two years older in the Lord, suggested that it was excellent not just to have a conversation with God all through my day but to have a memorable time once a week for a “date with God.”  So, I asked God for a date.  We decided to be alone in my apartment on a Friday evening, and it was a cheap date — no movie and dinner required.

I was reading the Bible out loud and using the prayer guide the workshop gave us.  “A.C.T.S” Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication.  Suddenly, God flooded my mind with a picture of a map of the world and photo images on the map of many different people groups.  I still remember the words that entered my thoughts, “The Good News for all people and a church among all peoples.”  And the next thought that flooded my thoughts was, “I must be a part of this for as long as I live.”

What do I sense God doing in me?

After the scene today, January 23, 2024, I remembered the scene from 50 years ago.  I have thought about it a few times a year over the years, and it has been like a compass helping Pandora and me decide on every job and every move we have made.  I have had a few scenes over the 50 years, five or six total, but to me, the others provided help from the Spirit for a specific challenge or decision we were facing.

Reflecting on this most recent scene over the last few hours, I sense God has moved in fresh and more profound ways over the previous few years.  Here are some of what I call signs on the trail.

First, I heard a sermon by Pastor Jane on prayer, where she closed the message with James 5:17, where she highlighted the words Elijah was a man like us, and he prayed fervently, stopped, and then started the rain.  She challenged us to ask God what we should be FERVENT to pray.  I often forget the sermons of others and my own in a short period after I hear them, even when taking notes as I listen. But this idea haunted me in a good way.  I asked God to give me a few specific fervent prayer burdens.  He gave me four over a few months. More on that in a moment.

Over the past two years, I have read a history of the ’60s Jesus movement and talked with the author by phone.  I shed some tears of sweet memories as I watched the film The Jesus Revolution, read reports, and spoke with people who experienced the Asbury revival.  There were some additional elements, but that is enough to make the point.  The top of my FERVENT list was for God to bring another wave of awakening to the youth culture. I am praying DAILY.

Today, I read a book by Mike Mason on Child Theology and a devotional on Desire by John O’Donohue, along with 1 Corinthians 15.  I also coach a Christian businessman God uses to support ministries in several countries, making disciples of children and youth. We have been meeting weekly for over two years.  Let me try to tie these jumbled touches on my life together.

In 1 Corinthians 15, one word stood out to me today.  “WORK”.  Paul describes his life in Christ as an all-in-total surrender of life’s work in verse 10. Then he uses it again in verse 58 to encourage the Corinthians to persevere in “abounding in the work of the Lord.”  The Spirit reminded me I have a lifelong vocation, a calling, and not to lose focus.  THEN, the SCENE I described above happened, and a few minutes later, in reflection, I remembered the scene from 50 years ago. 

Friends, God is on the move!  Rejoice.

What is your next step?

I would like your prayers for me and Pandora.  Also, ask God if you should join me in being fervent in prayer for a wind of the Spirit to blow around the world, awakening a generation to be more than children of men, but to receive the Spirit’s birth to be children of our God.