BY KENDRA ROTH, GRACE ATTENDER & MERGE STUDENT
Before you begin, be sure to read Part 1 of Kendra's story here.
In Ukraine, God revealed to me two key aspects of his teachings and work that had previously been missing in my life: the Holy Spirit and revival. Coming home, as Grace Church explored them through a sermon series, I learned about and was pushed to action by the hope they give for America’s future and youth.
My desire for revival is now nearly insatiable. The pursuit of revival, for me, lies in my generation. All of America needs a spiritual awakening, but I’ve realized many of my fellow students are at a crucial learning period – and this is not a moment in their lives that can be wasted. A revival of America, without a revival of its youth, will leave us floundering in the future. Realizing the need for an intergenerational revival has inspired me, especially because, being in high school, I am perfectly positioned for God to use me.
The Holy Spirit is key to revival, so my desire for him to invade all current followers of Christ has climbed to the summit. Without his power and conviction, many people who are lost see little proof that Christianity works, and many Christians find themselves living the same as those who are lost. Only when the Holy Spirit bursts out, shining among their peers and those they interact with, will the dead believe the true source of life. If I am not living in the power of the Holy Spirit, I am not much use to God nor to the people I am hoping to reach for him.
And so, recently, I have been walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. I am already seeing change in a number of high schoolers that I have a special heart to reach for God. When I trod the halls of my school, I sometimes imagine what everyone would look like, if our physical appearance reflected our spiritual health. When I imagine this, I see skeletons, hundreds of spiritually dead plodding on to a location in life that even they don’t know, something vaguely labelled “happiness” and “freedom” and “relief”. But now, I envision all of these skeletons coming to life, bursting with color, finding the potential they’ve had – though they couldn’t see it. I watch, in my mind, Ezekiel 37 coming to life before my very eyes. My heart aches for the day. It always has. But now I am beginning to see stirrings – flashes of light, bursts of color – and I know that someday soon, it may not be in my mind.
With all the discussion on revival, there is one certainty that I have found in my soul: There will be revival. I don’t know how God will work; I don’t know when. But in growing closer to God, I keep finding the conviction following my desires for it; there will be revival here – in America, among every generation. I hope that encourages you as much as it does me!
All that to say, I just wanted to give you the view of a sixteen year old in the current events at Grace and to encourage you as Grace Church continues down this enthralling path of the Lord’s.