I am a father of four children (three here on earth and one in heaven) and like all parents, it's my job to make sure kids get to school. Now, this becomes a problem when tired kids don't want to get out of bed.
I'm an early riser. Always have been, always will be. I am both a night owl AND a morning person, and getting out of bed has never been an issue for me. Most of the time I don't even need an alarm- I tell myself when I go to bed what time I need to be awake, and most of the time, I wake up within a few minutes of that time. Yes, weird.
However, it would appear that none of my children received this "wake up on your own" gene from me, especially my teenagers. Those of you with teenagers know the difficulty in getting non-morning people out of bed: it is a frustrating battle sometimes.
I've found that I typically go through five stages when trying to wake my kids up:
Stage 1- gentle words. "Time to get up, sweetie. It's 7:00. Time to get up," said in a very gentle, low tone. Sometimes that is enough. When it isn't, however, I go to stage two.
Stage 2- gentle touch. Continuing to use gentle words, I reach over to a shoulder and gently shake. Sometimes THAT is enough. When it isn't, however, I go to stage three.
Stage 3- stronger words. "Okay, it's really time to get up. Let's go. Out of bed," using a more military, commanding tone. Sometimes THAT is enough. When it isn't, however, I go to stage four.
Stage 4- stronger touch. Continuing to use stronger words, I do something that resembles playing drums on their arms, shaking them a little more strongly. Sometimes THAT is enough. When it isn't, however, I go on to the fifth and final stage.
Stage 5- The Icewater Bucket. No explanation necessary.
One way or another, the kids are going to get up. It is not an option for me to stop at stage two, or three, and say, "Wow- I think I'll just let them sleep in today." Not an option. They WILL get out of bed. The only question is, "How much pain are they going to experience BEFORE they wake up?
As a parent, I would rather my children wake up on the first call. I would much rather just use gentle words and have them pop right out of bed. I don't enjoy raising my voice and I especially don't want to douse them in ice water. I will if I have to, but that is not my intention.
However, the ball is in my children's court. They decide when they wake up, they decide which stage is the one they respond to, and they decide how much pain they will endure before they wake up.
The same is true of God and our beloved America, particularly the church.
John Piper, writing about revival, says this,
“Revival is the sovereign work of God to awaken His people with fresh intensity to the truth and glory of God, the ugliness of sin, the horror of hell, the preciousness of Christ’s atoning work, the wonder of salvation by grace through faith, the urgency of holiness and mission, and the sweetness of worship with God’s people.”- John Piper, A Godward Life, p 111
I'm an early riser. Always have been, always will be. I am both a night owl AND a morning person, and getting out of bed has never been an issue for me. Most of the time I don't even need an alarm- I tell myself when I go to bed what time I need to be awake, and most of the time, I wake up within a few minutes of that time. Yes, weird.
However, it would appear that none of my children received this "wake up on your own" gene from me, especially my teenagers. Those of you with teenagers know the difficulty in getting non-morning people out of bed: it is a frustrating battle sometimes.
I've found that I typically go through five stages when trying to wake my kids up:
Stage 1- gentle words. "Time to get up, sweetie. It's 7:00. Time to get up," said in a very gentle, low tone. Sometimes that is enough. When it isn't, however, I go to stage two.
Stage 2- gentle touch. Continuing to use gentle words, I reach over to a shoulder and gently shake. Sometimes THAT is enough. When it isn't, however, I go to stage three.
Stage 3- stronger words. "Okay, it's really time to get up. Let's go. Out of bed," using a more military, commanding tone. Sometimes THAT is enough. When it isn't, however, I go to stage four.
Stage 4- stronger touch. Continuing to use stronger words, I do something that resembles playing drums on their arms, shaking them a little more strongly. Sometimes THAT is enough. When it isn't, however, I go on to the fifth and final stage.
Stage 5- The Icewater Bucket. No explanation necessary.
One way or another, the kids are going to get up. It is not an option for me to stop at stage two, or three, and say, "Wow- I think I'll just let them sleep in today." Not an option. They WILL get out of bed. The only question is, "How much pain are they going to experience BEFORE they wake up?
As a parent, I would rather my children wake up on the first call. I would much rather just use gentle words and have them pop right out of bed. I don't enjoy raising my voice and I especially don't want to douse them in ice water. I will if I have to, but that is not my intention.
However, the ball is in my children's court. They decide when they wake up, they decide which stage is the one they respond to, and they decide how much pain they will endure before they wake up.
The same is true of God and our beloved America, particularly the church.
John Piper, writing about revival, says this,
“Revival is the sovereign work of God to awaken His people with fresh intensity to the truth and glory of God, the ugliness of sin, the horror of hell, the preciousness of Christ’s atoning work, the wonder of salvation by grace through faith, the urgency of holiness and mission, and the sweetness of worship with God’s people.”- John Piper, A Godward Life, p 111
The sovereign work of God to awaken His people.
Throughout history, God has awakened His people. There have been many awakenings here in America. When a country or nation drifts away from God, begins to spiral downward into sin, thumbs its nose at its Creator, and shouts like a defiant teenager in God's face, God moves to awaken them from their sin-induced slumber.
God progresses through these stages like a parent trying to wake up his child. First, He uses gentle words. No physical judgment or pain yet, just corrective words. If the nation responds and wakes up from its disobedience and repents, no further action is necessary.
However, if the nation doesn't respond, God allows a little physical discomfort. Maybe the economy dips slightly, maybe crime rises, maybe atheistic forces win a few court cases. Still, nothing major- most people are not affected and continue on their daily lives, still asleep in their sin and apathy towards God.
Then, stage three hits and stronger words are used. God's prophets used words comparing Israel to an adulteress, calling them to repentance and calling them to turn from their sins. If the nation stubbornly refuses to change, God moves to stage four.
Now, real physical pain starts. Godless nations rise against the people (the Assyrians for Israel and the Babylonians for Judah). Secure foundations are shaken- military suffers a defeat or two, economy hits the skids, social problems arise such as escalating divorce rates, escalating abortion rates, corrupt leaders. God begins to move in a more direct disciplinary fashion, removing idols and allowing the house built on sand to begin imploding. All of this is still His attempt to wake up a slumbering nation from its sin and rebellion.
When that is not enough, God moves into the final stage- judgment. This is the ice bucket in the face of the sleeping teenager. In Israel's time, the Assyrian army conquered the northern kingdom, killed the inhabitants, ripped open pregnant women, and carted the survivors off into captivity and slavery. God allows evil to have free reign for a limited time so that the people can see the true fruit of rejecting God. The same was true of Judah- the Babylonian army smashed the walls of Jerusalem and did the exact same thing.
The question for the nation isn't whether or not we are going to wake up. The question is only at which STAGE are we going to wake up. How much pain are we going to endure before we repent and turn back to God? Will it be at God's gentle words? Or will it take the stage five ice bucket in the face?
Will America only repent and turn to God if ISIS infiltrates our nation and kills millions of people in nuclear terror attacks? Will America wait until an Ebola plague that kills millions to wake up and repent? Will America only repent when our dollar overnight becomes worthless and our economy resembles the Weimar republic with millions thrown out of work, every day becoming a challenge just to get bread and water?
Like I said, God isn't going to just stop at gentle words. He's not going to stop at a gentle shaking. I don't do that as a parent, and He doesn't do that as God. If He is calling a nation to repentance, it's going to repent. The only question is how much pain that nation will experience before it repents.
I say we learn the lessons of history. I say we as a nation, and especially as a church, repent for our sin-induced slumber. We must repent for our cowardice in proclaiming the gospel. We must repent for our desire for comfort at the expense of the hungry. We must repent at our lack of Biblical knowledge. We must repent for our belittling the glory of God. We must repent of our idolatry, allowing sports and money and cars and status and houses occupy our hearts and minds. We must repent of our dishonesty and lack of integrity. We must repent of raising our children without character and without values, placing within them an entitlement mentality where they can do no wrong.
We must, finally, repent of our neglect of the Great Commission and the ease with which we sleep at night knowing people are going to hell never having heard about Jesus.
I say we are somewhere between stage three and stage four right now as a nation, America. History has shown us what happens when we refuse to wake up, and I don't want to go there. There is still time. Call on the Lord, for He is merciful and loving, slow to anger and quick to forgive. Let us turn from our sin, our lethargy, and our idolatry and allow Him to heal our land.
Allow Him to heal the state of our marriages. Allow Him to heal the home. Allow Him to heal us of the drug epidemic and and STD epidemic. Allow Him to replace the hopelessness and cynicism and unbelief with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. It's up to us, America. God, like a parent, is trying to wake us up. I say we take the hint.
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