On November 13, 2017, the Lord spoke to me from Haggai 2:6-7, “For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while), I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.” On that day, over two years ago, I understood the harvest nature of this verse, but had no context for what I was reading. Now I get it.
In our lifetime, never have we experienced anything like the Coronavirus Pandemic. Literally every nation (exception Sweden) is in a lock down state. The whole world is being shaken. The global economy is in panic and fear. Churches are shut down from Kansas City to Vatican City. The Pope is speaking to an empty St. Peter’s Square! There is not one soccer match happening in Europe or South America. There is not one baseball game being played in Japan or the United States. Even the NFL Draft, as we have known, is canceled and will go virtual. The whole world is being shaken!
I want you to note what the Lord says to the prophet Haggai, “I will shake the heaven and earth…” I (first personal), God will shake the earth. God is doing this. God is wanting to get our attention. God is waking us up to a new reality.
Spiritual Hunger
If Facebook and YouTube and other media platforms are any indication, the Holy Spirit is moving all over the globe to create a new spiritual hunger. I have heard from many pastors, fourteen on a zoom call today, twenty-five on Monday, all sharing about how many “views” they are having for their online services. In most cases, including our church The Road @ Chapel Hills, our online presence is touching four to five times our normal crowd on Sundays.
I firmly believe we may be about to come into one of the most fearful and exciting times in world history. I know that sounds strange for me to say, fearful and exciting, but my meaning comes from the belief that darkness and light will become more stark as we close in on the last days.
The darkness is definitely getting darker (abortion on demand, sex slave trade, rising crime, drug addiction and suicides), but the light is getting brighter! Churches all over the globe are growing. In communist China, with severe restrictions placed upon the Church, Christianity has grown from 4 million Believers in 1949, to unofficial estimates of over 150 million today.
According to Fox News, the fastest growing church on the planet right now is in Iran! One of the Spiritual Leaders in Iran says, “Muslim-background Iranians are leading a quiet, but mass exodus out of Islam and bowing their knees to the Jewish Messiah — with kindled affection towards the Jewish people.” This is startling! I could continue with stories from Pakistan, Uganda and Malaysia.
God is shaking the nations of the world. We are observing the embryonic tremors of a worldwide awakening, the likes of which have never been seen before. Pray and get ready. What’s happening in China and Iran is coming to a church near you.
Getting ready
Steve
Steve Holt M.A., D.D.
