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I’m not techy.
Even though I work for a digital magazine and am grateful for the ability to get the gospel to more people because of it, I don’t love technology. I prefer paper and pen to computer and screens. I like the feel and smell (especially the smell) of “real” books, and I only like Kindle because my mom does. I get annoyed with the perpetual “my phone is better than your phone” arguments and still miss my pink Razr. It’s amazing to me how much fuss can result from a handful of metal, glass, and intricate wires. Does anyone else get tired of the constant push for “the latest and greatest” smart phone or device? It’s exhausting trying to keep up with the ever-changing trends.
Yet—
Revived by God
In God’s economy, there are no new upgrades required every three months. No new models release every year. No recalls are made due to design malfunctions. No, we simply need to be plugged into the Lord and have our systems recharged by his Word continuously.
The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul… (Psalm 19:7)
I don’t know about you, but this screams life to my heart. Through his prayer, David holds out a lifeline of hope to us. He directly counters condemnation by telling us the need for revival is hardwired into our hearts. We were not created to experience the staggering power of regeneration never to depend on God again. We were created to need his revival continuously as we ebb and flow this side of glorification. Every day we need the Lord to breathe life into our bones that still get dry and weary from sin and failure and weakness and troubles.
Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. (Psalm 71:19-20)
Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? (Psalm 85:6)
Plugged into God’s Word
At times, we attempt to plug into power outlets we weren’t created for. The result leaves us more depleted and in need of the only One who can revive our depleted hearts. In this society marred by sin, it is the Lord himself who restores and revives; therefore it is necessary for our survival to be plugged into the Word of God. This is no mistake or misstep.
Maybe you need to be reminded, like I do, that our need for God is not a defect, but part of the Manufacturer’s intended design.
Just as we plug in our phones every day, God has designed our new operating system (Ezekiel 36:25-27) to be daily charged by the ultimate Power Source because, while our heart and flesh may fail, he is the strength of our heart and our portion forever (Psalm 73:26). And this “plugging in” is not a once-daily surge from our quiet time, but a continual sustenance throughout the day. This isn’t a checklist; it’s a moment-by-moment communion with God that sustains our new hearts.
Almost two centuries before the first iPhone was released, George Müller penned the following words about recharging our souls:
I saw more clearly than ever, that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not, how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man may be nourished…I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God and to meditation on it.
Alone with God
It’s not just the Psalmists and George Müller who recognized that God alone could fill thirsty souls—Jesus himself got alone with his Father to recharge.
Great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray. (Luke 5:15–16)
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1:35)
And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. (Mark 6:46)
If the Son of God needed to recalibrate through communion with the Father, how much more do we?
When we, like Jesus, realize everything in our life flows out of our individual time with the Father, it changes the way we view our schedules and priorities and everything else. We submit to our need for the Holy Spirit to daily recalibrate our hearts, and we plug into him for the grace and strength to survive and thrive in our fallen flesh and fractured world.
As broken people living in a broken culture, our greatest need is to be plugged into the only One who can bring revival in our hearts. And the amazing news is that Jesus came for this purpose—to revive our hearts.
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy; “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.” (Isaiah 57:15, emphasis mine)
He is committed to reviving the hearts he awakened.
Dependent on God
So how are your batteries?
- Have you been recharged and refreshed by God’s Word today?
- Do you need to get alone with God, to pray and praise him for who he is and what he’s done for you in Jesus Christ?
- Have you remembered that he loves to revive dependent, humble, and lowly sinners?
Drink deeply of the endless life available to you through the Holy Spirit, brought about by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. Take comfort in the reality that Jesus is in the process of restoring you completely to the Creator’s original design, and that one day you will be in his presence, fully charged by the light himself.
Sophie McDonald
Sophie McDonald is a writer, Bible teacher, and nanny. She’s a fan of blue ink pens, theology, books, coffee, and journals. Her primary aim is the fulfillment of the Great Commission and a life drenched in holiness. You can read more of her writing on her blog and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
