RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the great British pastor, once defined revival as being “when God is known as God.” His definition describes a revival in every sense. Personal revival is when we are growing in the knowledge of God. Revival in the church is when the church is getting to know God corporately. Revival within a community or nation comes when God visits them and makes Himself known to that people.
The experience of getting to know God always reveals Him as He has already revealed Himself in the Scriptures. Any experience that contradicts the Word of God is counterfeit. So when we experience Him, we’ll get to know who He is and how He works. We’ll come to understand His nature and divine attributes as revealed in the Bible.
When God revives our hearts, one of the first things we learn about Him is that He specializes in the impossible. The impossible becomes possible because we’ve encountered the God who is able to work exceedingly and abundantly above all that we could ask or even think. When we meet Him, we begin to dream the impossible. Our vision is expanded beyond our abilities. What we’ve never been able to achieve becomes quite achievable.
In early 1998, I was keynote speaker at a conference in California. One morning a man spoke to the conference about his ministry and vision for the world. During his presentation he said, “I went to the leaders of our organization in the Middle East and asked, ‘What is the most difficult country in this region?’ Those leaders then told me that it was the nation of Iran. So my family and I have adopted Iran and the Persian world. We’re praying for God to work mightily among the Persian people.”
Then this man did something very strange. He said, “I understand that Sammy Tippit goes to the difficult areas of the world. I want to challenge him to go to Iran and pray for God to open doors for the gospel.”
I was taken back. Where did that come from? I was sitting in the audience with other leaders, simply listening to another speaker, and suddenly I was being challenged to go to one of the world’s most difficult countries. After the session, I went to the speaker and suggested we have lunch.
I questioned my new friend about his statements. Before I knew it, we had a deep sense that God was sitting with us at that table. One of the things the speaker said was that an American couldn’t get into Iran. I would first have to pray and ask God to open the doors to be allowed into the country — and then pray and ask God to open the doors in the nation for the gospel. I knew that God is the God of the impossible. Strangely, I found myself accepting his challenge.
I began to dream His dreams and think His thoughts. His ways and thoughts are so much higher than ours. By November 1998, God had opened the doors to Iran. The government reversed their policy and allowed us into the country. A group of ten of us went into Iran and just walked the streets and prayed. We went to the major cities of the nation.
I can’t be specific, but since that time, God has moved in an incredible manner. We’ve seen Him send revival to His people in a dark and difficult land. We’ve seen leaders revived and Christians find victory. God has made Himself known.
If you long for revival in your heart, then begin to dream the impossible. You may find God in those dreams. He specializes in the unachievable. Then the impossible becomes possible.