On the morning of February 8th of this year, a group of students stayed after a chapel service at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. Apparently one of the students began to confide in others regarding sin in his life. There were prayers, then singing, and before long others were returning to this renewed time of worship.

This humble circumstance quickly flourished into what came to be known as the “Asbury Revival”. In the end, it lasted for 12 days, attracted over 50,000 visitors from more than 200 other academic institutions as well as several countries.

It is a great encouragement to me any time I see people paying homage to the true and living God. How many times in recent years have others like myself lamented how much our nation needs Jesus?

Paul used a very descriptive turn of phrase (Acts of the Apostles, 17:26-27) saying of every nation of mankind, “…. That they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us, for in Him we live and move and exist…”.

Groping for God. That ‘s what we do. But we grope for the God who is present with us. And we grope “each one of us” in our own personal struggle with faith. For though we hear of great crowds praying and praising God in Kentucky, we must each one in the end “work out our own salvation” (letter to the Philippians, 2:12), and do so with fear and trembling.

James made a most profound statement (Letter of James 4:8) when he wrote, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”. This truth, laid down by the Spirit of God Himself, shows that revival after all, is not limited to a particular place or time. Revival is whenever and wherever you make the deliberate decision to draw near to God.

As the scripture testifies, “Today is the day of salvation”. Make this
opportunity count!