Why I Am Not the Least Bit Discouraged
5. God is doing amazing things in the earth today. It is true that Islam is spreading and that false religions and cults continue to grow. But for decades now, the greatest spiritual growth taking place worldwide is in born-again, Spirit-empowered circles. The harvest continues to be reaped at an unprecedented pace, and even in countries like Iran, countless tens of thousands are being saved every year.
6. He who began the good work in us will bring it to completion. I have seen the Lord’s faithfulness for more than four decades now, and my confidence in Him is greater than ever before. My trust is in His wisdom and power and goodness, not mine, and I know that I am standing strong today because He is the author and finisher of my faith (Heb. 12:2). Why shouldn’t I have confidence for tomorrow?
7. Revival has turned things around in the past. Revival can turn things around today. We have had some very dark periods in our history, including the decades following the Revolutionary War, when some of our most prestigious college campuses—schools which were founded for exclusively Christian purposes—did not have a single professing believer. (This was stated in a famous lecture by the revival historian James Edwin Orr.) All this was changed dramatically when awakening came, and a greater, more radical awakening can turn things around again in our day.
