RUN LIKE A CHAMPION

God opened the door for me to preach the gospel in war-torn Burundi in 1998. It was extremely difficult to get into the country. But after much prayer, God intervened and we were able to penetrate the nation with the message of God’s love. Six miles down the road they were killing each other, but warring factions came together in the stadium..
The government was so impressed, the cabinet minister in charge of peace negotiations asked for a private meeting. During that meeting, he requested we bring the gospel to every person in the nation. He said, “This is our only hope for peace.” God moved during those days. Among the people, there was deep conviction of sin and faith in Christ. Thousands came to faith. The only explanation was that the people of Burundi had much more than a visit of an American evangelist. They experienced a divine visitation of God’s Spirit.
Some time after the move of God, the pastor from Rwanda who had arranged the meetings in Burundi was visited by some people representing a healing evangelist. They wanted to hold meetings in Burundi but couldn’t get permission. So they approached our colleague for advice. “How did you get permission for your friend to hold these meetings?”
He said, “We prayed.”
They said, “Oh, yes; we do that also. But how did you get the people to agree to the meeting?”
Again my colleague replied, “We prayed.”
They just shook their heads and left perplexed.
We live in a generation of copycats. Someone experiences success, and we try to copy everything that person did. We must understand that the presence of God can’t be copied. We cannot manipulate God. He is absolutely holy. That was the first of three great problems David faced when he wanted to move the Ark of the Testament back to Jerusalem.
The Philistines had built a new cart to transport the Ark. David must have figured he could do exactly what they had done. The Bible says, “They set the ark of God on a new cart and brought it from the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill” (2 Samuel 6:3). But the Ark contained the manifest presence of God. Copycatting can’t transport the presence of God. Revival doesn’t come on the wings of a new cart, a new method, or a new idea. It arrives on those age-old principles of brokenness, repentance, surrender, and faith. If we are to lead God’s people into God’s presence, we must understand it won’t be done on a new cart.
But there was a second problem David faced. Dynamic music and celebration is not what paves the way for the presence of God to enter our lives. The Scriptures say, “David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the Lord, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, sistrums and cymbals” (2 Samuel 6:5). Their attempt at worship must have been something to behold. They made an effort to praise God with all their strength. But true worship is not found in our mental, emotional, or physical abilities. It’s found in the beauty of a holy heart. We ought to worship God with all that’s within us. But we must never forget that it’s not elaborate celebration that God is seeking. He seeks humble, holy hearts to worship Him.
That’s eventually what brought David to his spiritual sensibilities. The Bible says, “When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord’s anger burned against Uzzah because of his irreverent act; therefore God struck him down and he died there beside the ark of God” (2 Samuel 6:6, 7).
That was a hard lesson for David. But there’s one character quality of God we must never forget: He is holy. If we are to lead His people into revival (God’s manifest presence), it will be done only through humble, holy hearts.