God's Promises: He Looks at the Heart

Photo by Kelly Sikkema


Revival history has long been a topic of fascination for me. I can remember even as a kid asking my parents why God did such epic miracles in other parts of the world, but the US didn’t seem to experience the same kinds of supernatural things at least not within my own bubble in childhood. Now, having lived in Honduras nearly nine years, I have experienced firsthand the truth that we humans need a divine intervention even to be able to help others to the depth we desire. We shouldn’t be lazy; we should work and love and serve to the best of our abilities. Yet, there is something undeniable in a change that takes place within a person because of a personal encounter with the Spirit of God. Thus, as we work and serve and love, we also pray for revival—for God to do what only He can do in our world.

As I have studied revival history, I have seen major world revivals be described as waves that correct a flaw in the Body of Christ. It’s not that God didn’t incorporate this element into His original design for His Church; it’s that humans missed, dropped, skewed, or misinterpreted it along the way. Revival isn’t just about miracles and salvations on a widescale. It’s also about course-correcting and steering the Body of Christ in line with the story that God is writing in the timeline that He has orchestrated. One of the most recent revival restoration themes has been in relation to the Father’s heart. God has taken His message around the world that He is our Father who doesn’t want to be seen as a demanding boss. He extends love and rest and security that has nothing to do with what we do for Him. Through this movement, He set in motion a course-correction away from a religiosity that centers around us and what we do. He reminded us that what He does for us and in us and through us is far greater than our own endeavors. He invited us into a relationship that overflows His love from a place of secure intimacy rather than from a place of frantic striving. This is important because how the Church sees herself is how she will demonstrate God’s love to the world. Elements of this wave of revival are still going on; they’re still being worked out and lived out. People have had their own encounter with the Father’s love and have now dedicated their lives to making sure that other people come to know that love through provision, social justice, and emotional healing. Books and teachings and conferences and personal experiences have absorbed this revival theme and continue to run with it. Yet, others have started turning their eyes toward what the next revival theme could be. Revivals have gotten closer and closer together over time, so the hope is that perhaps the next wave isn’t far off. Regardless, the impending theme I’ve seen repeated over and over again by revival historians, prophetic people, and current ministers is Jesus preparing the Bride of Christ.

Brides in the Bible, including Esther, went through great preparation and purification processes before their weddings. This isn’t too different from how weddings are approached in this day and age as well. So much preparation goes into planning the event, receiving premarital counseling, and trying to be our most polished version of ourselves on that special day. So, what does it look like for the Bride of Christ to be prepared? I think we’re already seeing it in some really unconventional ways.

To truly reach the best version of yourself, you have to start by being willing to be fully yourself. How many marriages have ended because the bride and groom conducted their relationship with ongoing facades and were hit with a ton of bricks after marriage, realizing that neither one was who they appeared to be? If we want to enter into a divine marriage as the Bride of Christ with Someone who knows us better than we know ourselves, we have to be willing to be fully ourselves. There is no sense in pretending that we are polished and prepared, healed and whole with the One who will see right through our attempts to convince ourselves and others. The Bride of Christ is made up of every believer from all over the world—people of every race, differing nationalities, numerous languages, and unique flavors in their expressions of worship. Whether intentionally or subconsciously, I think we’ve often created an ethnocentric or denomination-centric, or otherwise limited definition of the Bride of Christ. Our definition can be limited to our community congregation or the Church from our nation and culture or only the people we’ve observed worship God. We forget that the Bride of Christ is meant to be an expression of God Himself because He created His children with such diversity. He has placed facets of Himself in His Bride across the world, and we will miss seeing the fullness of Him (as we so often pray in revival) if we aren’t willing to embrace the fullness of our brothers and sisters.

As an introvert, I have often wondered if the Church is willing to let me be my whole self—if I can find a place where I’m not just tolerated but celebrated. Introverts often fight for depth and ask hard questions. Introverts often offer a quieter yet deeply purposeful way of relating to God. Introverts are often more interested in building genuine relationships rather than just handing out Bible literature in a supermarket to people they’ll probably never see again. These are generalizations that don’t apply to all introverts or all extroverts or even all people. But, what would the Church look like if it stopped insisting that introverts fit into an extroverted system full of time-consuming programs and actually celebrated the aspects of God deposited in their unique characteristics? Could extroverts be challenged to be more fully their matured selves if introverts were invited to the table and welcomed with listening ears rather than mandated how to participate in the extroverted Body of Christ? Would the Body of Christ better depict the love of God if introverts were given the same value in leadership as extroverts?

That’s just one, very personal example, but I can’t help but wonder how many other unique people would echo that question of “Will anyone love me as my whole self within the Body of Christ?” “Is my expression of worship welcomed and invited?” “Are people willing to see Christ in me and discern the facet of Him they’ve never met before that lives in me?” These are scary waters to navigate—I get that. There is a fear of a spiritual free-for-all that skews away from the truths God established in His Word. But there are losses on both sides of the coin. I believe that the wounds of the world are crying out these same questions, and culture is shifting as a result.

I find it interesting that movements like Time’s Up/Me Too and Black Lives Matters are happening so close in succession. Rather than falling into the political trap of taking sides, I think there is value in having a larger perspective of asking what is driving these public fights for freedom and justice and value. What hurt, lack, and questions are driving these movements? How do those fighting feel, and how have they felt for so long? Do we care about those feelings and experiences even if we haven’t had them ourselves? This isn’t a question about politics. This is a question about souls that are dear to the Father. The conclusion that I come to personally is that the Church is being challenged by external culture to respond to these wounds in our societies because we refused to take our rightful place in leading the fight for freedom. For so long, we have looked to government and politics to do our job in shifting culture. We have forfeited the power that we have to love radically and change the climate of our society because we’ve let ourselves be bought by politics, or we have lazily believed that our vote or our political stance is carrying out the Great Commission. Politics and government have their place, and it is appropriate to want to see those aspects of our society operate justly. There are many examples of how Christians and people who were affected by revival fought for social and governmental change—that absolutely is part of it! But, in so many of these wounds, government can only externally regulate. Who is called to reach the heart of racism, rejection, sexual discrimination, and sexual abuse with healing? Government and politics are important, but they’re only one facet of influence within society. They’re only one element in the equation of wholeness. And, how one-dimensional will we be as followers of Christ if we’re content with letting only our politics speak for us?

As we pray for revival and consider what it means to be prepared as the Bride of Christ, let us remember that one of the most notable revivals the world has seen, the Azusa Street Revival, took place in a time when segregation was in full force. Yet, it pioneered in inviting the church to unite all of their brothers in sisters in God’s presence as equals. William J. Seymour, one of the primary stewards of the Azusa Street Revival, was an African American who was forced to sit in the hallway because of segregation as he listened to the messages of his white counterpart, Charles Parham, teach about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He was rejected by the very congregation that had asked him to come be pastor because of his desperate pursuit of all that God had. God chose to descend with manifestations of His tangible presence on an interracial, interdenominational congregation led by an African American in a time when most churches were segregated. The ripple effect of that revival was far-reaching since missionaries were inspired to take the Gospel and God’s presence all over the world.

William J. Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival were dismissed by some because of their approach to the unity of the Body of Christ. They were united in hunger for more of God’s fullness, and they demonstrated an understanding of the promise of God found in 1 Samuel 16:7b that God honored abundantly. Here is what that verse says:

“The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

He sees the hearts of the immigrant. He sees the hearts of people of color and white people. He sees the heart of the misunderstood introvert and the hearts of women who have been told to sit down and shut up when they only long to bring Him glory. He sees the heart of politicians and policemen and protesters alike. And He asks us if we’re willing to pursue that perspective as well. It’s not about dismissing the outward appearance as unimportant or unworthy of celebration; it’s about challenging ourselves to get to know someone vastly different from ourselves on a deeper level. He created us to look different and be different on purpose. William J. Seymour chose to put that promise of God in action, and he recognized that this was part of stewarding revival.

Being made into the Bride of Christ means that each of our facets has to be celebrated, not stifled or censored because of the majority or because of playing to the lowest common denominator. When we stifle the Holy Spirit, we will inevitably stifle our brothers and sisters. When we stifle our brothers and sisters, we will inevitably limit our experience of the fullness of who God is. How will the world know that God loves them in all of their uniqueness if they see people like them being dismissed in the Church? How will we reach people who look or speak or have a culture vastly different from our own if we aren't willing to give a voice in leadership to our brothers and sisters of different skin colors, languages, cultures, personalities, etc.?  Part of God fully revealing Himself is setting the oppressed free because aspects of Himself are hidden within those who have long been dismissed. This isn’t about politics or party lines; this is about loving each individual with the love of Jesus. This is about having the humility to learn from one another. We will begin to see revival and the fullness of Him when we have released our brothers and sisters to be fully themselves without fear. That doesn’t mean that we don’t all need to grow or heal. It doesn’t mean that we don’t all have maturing to do. God is never done with any of us. But until we’re willing to see Christ in others right where they are, we will still be missing real revival. The world is crying out because their wounds have become unbearable. Will we have the humility to own our part in their hurt, repent for our indifference, and pursue the heart of God by loving each one? Will we live as the revived by seeing the hearts of the people who are so different from us, the people who may even offend us? Will we empower our brothers and sisters in Christ to complete the unique expression of who God is for the world? Will they finally know we are Christians by our love? If Jesus is preparing His Bride, He will start by looking at our heart. Are we confident and proud about what He will find?