The Bible says of the Lord, “Surely the wrath of people shall bring You praise; the remainder of wrath You shall put on” (Ps. 76:10).
God is never caught off guard. No matter how the powers of darkness seem to be prevailing, the Lord is always at work behind the scenes preparing a counter offense to destroy the works of the devil.
We see this clearly portrayed in the days of Elijah the prophet. Because of the sin of Ahab and the people, God spoke to Elijah, telling him to prophesy no rain or dew in the land until further notice. “As the Lord God of Israel lives before whom I stand, there will not be dew or rain these years except by my word” (1 Kings 17:1).
Straightaway, the sky was sealed and the earth began drying up resulting in severe drought and dire famine. Understand that God’s covenant with Israel, when violated, would at times result in no rain indicating that the Lord was displeased with the nation and He had actually withdrawn His favor and presence. “When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against You … ” (1 Kings 8:35).
When God’s presence is withdrawn, people invariably experience lack in one or more of the following ways: lack of power, lack of peace, lack of provision, lack of protection and, ultimately, lack of purpose. A vacuum of the soul is the end result. The Lord then uses this to alert humankind of the vanity of life without Him. The prophet put it this way: “Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will reprove you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter for you to have forsaken the Lord your God” (Jer. 2:19). People inevitably reap the fruit of the choices they make when they refuse to submit to the ways of the Lord. However, this does not mean that the Father had rejected His wayward children. On the contrary, He is using “human defiance as a weapon” to destroy the lies of the enemy and restore His children to fellowship with Him.
We are living in a time when Father God is preparing the hearts of people to receive His goodness. The prophet foretold of an end time’s revival that would be characterized by a people that “will come in fear to the Lord and to His goodness in the latter days” (Hos. 3:5). Whether it is apparent to you right now or not, grace is being extended to the lost, pointing the way back to the Father’s house. “When he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have an abundance of bread, and here I am perishing with hunger! I will arise and go to my father … ‘” (Luke 15:17-18).
Pray for your loved ones to truly be saved, but make sure you give thanks to the Father for how He is preparing their hearts and using human defiance as a weapon. A great harvest of prodigals is coming into the kingdom. In fact, these are the ones who will experience and ultimately help usher in greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit the world has ever witnessed. {eoa}
Glenn Bleakney is the founder and president of Awake Nations Ministries. With uncompromising conviction and in the power of the Holy Spirit, Awake Nations with Glenn is taking the gospel of the kingdom to the nations of the world. Many lives have been saved and transformed through the power of God manifest before their eyes through signs and wonders! Sign up for Glenn’s weekly devotional, Living Supernaturally, at awakenations.org.
