Recently, after being awakened by a powerful dream, I sat alone quietly in a dimly lit room. I sat alone contemplating the significance of what I had dreamed, and with whom I was to share it. I reached out to a personal friend as I have learned the importance of charting the course that comes through dreams and visions.
We are in unprecedented times. Unprecedented times provide unparalleled opportunities. These are days for bold faith. Do not avoid being alert, and never acquiesce to fear. The dream highlighted dynamic unwavering principles and the people, ordinary people, God has always chosen to use to bring great hope to nations.
The old preacher said, “To everything there is a season; a time to every purpose under the heaven” (Eccl. 3:1). There is a time when the earth is ripe and ready to receive the seed of hope for future abundance. There is a time when almost anything will grow, and a time when it seems absolutely nothing will.
There are rhythms of the earth and of history too. When we learn from the rhythms of history, we can most effectively chart the path into our best future. The Lord is leading a cause and championing His purpose among the nations, and we have the remarkable opportunity to align ourselves with His purpose and ride with angel armies to fulfill His plan in the nations.
The days in which we are living are unstable, unpredictable and even chaotic. History is marked by times just like these. We are in unprecedented waters, but not without comparison in history. The quest of our times is for strong leadership to guide us safely through this season of unraveling and lead us forward into a brighter and better future.
We are believing for awakening in the nations of the earth, not anarchy. These are times that demand a response governed by revelation of the Holy Spirit, not by the turmoil of fear or the fatigue of frustration. What can we learn from revelation of the Holy Spirit and the rhythms of history to maximize our efforts in seeing global awakening, transforming revival and the greatest harvest the world has ever known?
Where do we start? What do we do today?
History Lessons
- Return and restore. In times of crisis, return to the Lord and restore biblical virtues! History is a magnifying glass enlarging our perspective in seasons of unrest and unraveling. Such an unraveling is often manifest as a crisis that can reshape the most basic social environment, and this causes fear or even panic to set in on the hearts of people—even people of faith. We must first distance ourselves from those things which produce unhealthy fear or trauma.
Return to the Lord! (Matt. 3:2, 4:17; 11:20; Mark 1:15; 6:12, 13:3; 2 Chron. 7:14).
It is not another symbolic ceremony or a staged return to the Lord we need, but it is a deep repentance and a returning to the Lord longing for the glory of His Presence to come transform our hearts and change our minds! We must make An Appeal to Heaven for the Lord to come and renew our hearts and heal our land.
Restore Biblical Virtues
In times of crisis it is imperative that we look inward without isolation and allow the most fundamental and yet powerful principles to be fully renewed in our lives. These principles will sustain us through times of a seeming unraveling of social norms, structures and systems. I want to list six principles to renew in our lives in this season:
—Honor. Renew our commitments to honor and prefer others in times of unraveling.
—Integrity. Renew our commitments to live without reproach and with great integrity.
—Self-restraint. Renew our commitments to live disciplined lives of self-restraint.
—Family commitments. Renew our commitments to our families.
—Mutual trust. Renew our commitments to have people close to us we trust implicitly.
—Cultural decency. Renew our commitments to cultural decency and respect for others.
- Revival and relationships. History magnifies the importance of direct personal linkages in healthy relationships as being a key component to not just surviving days of unraveling but to thrive in days that are unstable and unraveling. We must resist the fear that tempts us to unplug from healthy relationships in days of crisis. Solid personal relationships allow for personal integrity to flourish in times of great crisis.
In addition, we are believing that America’s, and indeed the world’s, greatest awakening and revival that will witness the winning of an unprecedented harvest lays ahead of us and not behind us. It is time for a revival that is not centered around personality but around the presence of God moving through the lives of ordinary men and women to come to the nations of the earth.
- Gather and glory. Again, we learn from history that a major key to thriving in seasons of unraveling is to learn to integrate our skills, work creatively and diversify our influence. It is important that we hear the call of the Spirit to gather in ways that are new and fresh to us. The Lord is releasing strategy and capability to gather in ways generations before us could never have imagined. It is important in these days to stress what we have in common and not what sets us apart as individuals.
We have been releasing a strategy recently we call an “awakening mosaic.” It is a clarion call in response to the appeal to heaven dream I had a few years ago to connect leaders for a cause greater than any one person or ministry. It is a strategy to honor and to gather generations together. The awakening that is at hand is a gathering that will produce a sound of hope in the earth the likes of which has never been heard. We are at the beginning of a glory move of God that will manifest boldly in the lives of ordinary people in unsuspecting places in ways we have never dreamed of before. Get ready! The Lord is coming in greater glory!
- Root and rest. It is easy to feel undone, or may I say, as if you are unraveling in times of great crisis and chaos. It is imperative that we take root in this season. Do not allow fear or trauma to cause your emotions to begin to become frayed or unraveled. Commit today to return to the Lord in prayer and supplication. Take root:
—Take root in His word. Spend time daily in study of the Bible and meditation upon the things the Lord is showing you.
—Take root in prayer and supplication. Allow the spirit of prayer to move upon you and no longer be content with shallow praying. Go deeper in prayer.
—Take root in bold acts of courage. Allow faith to spring up in your heart and believe the Lord for renewing acts of courage.
—Take root in positive relationships. Allow authentic relationships to flourish in times of unraveling and chaos.
- Brace yourself and be bold. Brace yourself for the days ahead being alert without acquiescing to fear. How to brace yourself in days of unraveling:
—Acknowledge: The crisis is real, but I am not a victim of the crisis. I will arise in faith, ascend with great courage and be bold to love and win in this season! I will not bury my head in the sand and pretend none of this chaos is real, but I choose to live by faith above the chaos while remaining alert and active.
—Accept: I accept much of what is happening is beyond my control, but I accept the responsibility to govern those things which are in my control by revelation of the Holy Scriptures and wisdom of the Holy Spirit living my best life in a season of unraveling.
—Anchor: I will remain anchored into the promise of God concerning my life, my family and all that belongs to me or I call my own. I remained anchored in faith, rejecting fear. I remain anchored in prayer and intercession, resisting complaining and grumbling. I remain anchored in generosity and a bountiful spirit, resisting a tendency to hoard because of fear. I remain anchored in the joy and intimacy of the Holy Spirit through worship and devotion.
These principles are a practical place to begin in this remarkable journey through this season of unraveling and boldly into the future awakening. Let’s go! {eoa}
Rick Curry is a revivalist, speaker and a storyteller of past revivals. He and his wife, Jennifer, travel full time, spreading the message of awakening and transforming revival at conferences and gatherings across America. Rick is known for having the dream of the appeal to heaven flag, in which the Lord shows him every past generation of America’s believers dressed in their period clothing and arriving in their generations mode of transportation to a gathering of the ages.
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