Right now I am flying down the South African coast line and I can’t help thinking of the number of prophetic dreams I have had over the years of Tsunamis rushing in. Don’t be alarmed I am not implying that it is time to sell the coastal properties and move inland. I strongly believe that the dreams speak not of a literal wave covering South Africa but rather that a massive Spiritual awakening is coming to our nation. The terrible shock of the 2004 tsunami has burnt into the collective mind of our generation the early warning signs of an impending tsunami. We now know for example that when, all of a sudden, and for no apparent reason the tide rushes far out leaving fish stranded on the shore this is not the time to collect the fruits of the sea but it is time to relocate to higher ground, to watch carefully because the sea which left silently, demurely, and gently is about to return with a speed and power that will sweep everything before it.
There are many signs that the expected spiritual Tsunami is on it’s way. In the last few years there is a renewed spiritual interest amongst a generation who not long ago had no interest in God or spiritual things. The last decade has dealt hammer blows to the sense confidence that we once took for grated in the west. Iconic moments of the ’00’s have been like a massive out rush of the sea of our worldview which have left previously hidden assumptions exposed and vulnerable to our scrutiny.Our wired world means that today everything is globalized, the media ensure that 9/11, the war on terror, the global economic down turn, and the horrors of the various natural disasters such as tsunami’s and earthquakes crash through our screens into our living rooms no matter where we live and remind us that despite the many advances of our modern world we still enjoy a precious but fragile existence in this world. As a result many have paused to ponder the significance of the other world, the unseen rhelm. Modernity, science, and an aggressive anti-supernatural educational bias in most nations tried valiantly over the last 150 years to eradicate the idea of God and the Spiritual in man, but it has largely failed because it cannot go deep enough, it cannot remove the fingerprints of God that we see on us, our neighbours and all around us. Educational systems may touch our heads however it cannot penetrate to that deepest part of us that cries out for the loving heart of God. The bible says that God has put eternity in the hearts of man, it is like a homing beacon that when we stop, or when life stops us, long enough it points back to the place from where we all instinctively know we come, eternity, God.
This week-end I was part of another event which for me is further evidence of the turning of the tide of a new and powerful spiritual awakening. I had the privilege of teaching at the first Supernatural School of Leadership in Peitermaritzburg. The school is the brainchild of Steven Haines under the leadership of Jacques and Jenny Oberholzer pastors of His People Peitermaritzburg. The school’s aim is to raise a new brand of leader for the 21 st century church in Africa. Leaders who have learnt how to live from heaven to earth, who are filled with the love of God and know how to make love real in a world that is starving for a touch from the hand of God. There are 32 men and women in that first class from as far away as Namibia who have come to learn how to connect with heaven and to live a supernaturally empowered life, where miracles, signs and wonders become the normal course of faith. It was from the get-go electric. At the opening dinner after Steve, Jacques and myself spoke about the goals of the school and then shared some of the testimonies of what is happening we prayed and asked the Holy Spirit to come and fill us, touch us and fill us with his love and power once again. The atmosphere was changed as person after person found themselves overwhelmed by the love and power of God. Signs of his presence which have become familiar to us in the last three years were everywhere, people overcome with supernatural joy laughing so hard they could hardly breathe, others suddenly weeping healing tears, joyful tears as they find themselves on the receiving end of God’s love, some just crumpled unable to stand in the power-filled presence which had filled the room and some just sat quietly filled with supernatural peace. It went like that for the three days I spent with the students. A supernatural generation is arising, the tide is turning, even now I can hear the distant rumble of the wave returning in power.
I am convinced that enormous changes are on the horizon and everything will be affected by the turning of the tide. Don’t get me wrong i am not a doomsayer, predicting the end of life on earth, but perhaps it may be the end of life as we know it. That is both exciting and challenging.
Time to move to higher ground
It is however i am convinced to move to higher ground, some on that fateful boxing day in 2004 after the shaking of the initial earthquake had passed, donned bikinis and bathing suits and headed to the beach, but others moved to higher ground. Even the most spiritually unaware can feel that momentous things are happening in the world an in the church, how we respond at this time will position us for what is to come. There are many who will choose to ignore the fact the world is shaking, and has been shaken and try to return to the familiarity of normality, to just continue as if nothing has happened, and as if nothing is happening. Perhaps though it would be wise to stop and assess and move to higher ground. What higher ground? Jesus once said
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
It is time to press into a life of intimacy with God, knowing him, loving him, loving others, loving to hear his word. God and his word do not change everything else can and does. Some have fooled themselves that all their religious activity is the same thing as knowing God, but in the end God’s assessment is “I never knew you” God is seeking those who pursue his presence, who love his voice, who are known by him. Living a life in the presence of God is higher ground, more religion is not.
Time to reassess the strength of our structures.
The footage of the aftermath of the Tsunami’s were eery. Where days before whole villages stood, the earth seemed to have been scoured flat, here and there a building stood but all around them there were empty streets. The wave had literally sucked whole neighbourhoods, villages and towns into the sea.
The wholesale return of miraculous power into the church as God fulfills his promise to pour out his Spirit on all flesh; men, women, rich, poor, slave, free, regardless of their age, gender or nationality is going to be a challenge to everything that is familiar in church. When full power returns to the church, it will return like a global Tsunami. There will never have been anything like it. An entire generation not only loving Jesus, but loving like him with signs wonders and miracles. In some ways the coming revival will resemble the previous ones in the same way that a Tsunami looks like every wave that hits the shore the difference is in the impact! The wave that is coming is a Tsunami of love, healing, power, glory and the presence of God. It will totally change the landscape of life as the knowledge of the glory of God fills the earth as the waters cover the sea. We often expect God to mould himself to our structures, our expectations, our traditions and way of doing things. After all it took us a long time to build this, we have always done things this way. In the day of power however everything changes. Like Noah, it would be wise to get blueprints from heaven, time to stop and Listen.
Time to come in for landing. Everything looks better from the heaven’s perspective, you can see more, you can see further. Even if you can’t see it now, or feel it, there is a Spiritual wave of God’s love and power rushing towards us, it is called revival, it will bring reformation. It is the Kingdom of God.
