Recipe:

Repent
Repair
Resolve


There, you get the recipe front and center. No need to scroll through pages of fluff until you find the recipe at the end of the webpage.

Whenever my wife finds a new recipe to try on Pinterest, the link always leads you to a page with a dramatic story about how the author stumbled upon this dish or a reminiscent story about the days when grandma made this dish. You have to scroll through a lot of fluff to finally find the information you wanted in the first place! Honestly, the story doesn’t influence how the food will taste. It’s unnecessary. Just get to the point!

That is why I gave you the recipe first, and now I will give you the background story. Israel has suffered for years under the “hand of the Philistines.” They are fed up with the Philistines and they finally realize their plight is their own fault. Samuel becomes the lightning rod bringing the reviving work of God to Israel.

The recipe above is the recipe for revival and you can walk through the details in 1 Samuel 7. The people “lamented after the Lord.” Samuel tells them to “put away the strange gods,” “prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only” (1 Samuel 7:2-3). To put away the foreign gods required sincere repentance. They had to forsake all other superstitious tokens of manipulating the mystical powers of the divine. You cannot toy with God. Stop acting like you are worshiping God while trying to entertain several other passions on the side. James would say, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses!”

After you have repented, you need to do some repair work. The word Samuel uses is “prepare.” This means to form and establish your hearts. Because you have been so attentive to your other pursuits, you didn’t notice that your heart has been condemned as uninhabitable. There is nowhere for the Lord to come in and fellowship (Revelation 3:20). Oftentimes, the first step in the recipe for revival is emphasized, and it should be. However, without the second step of establishing your life to receive the presence of the Lord, there is no place for revival to take place.

Samuel’s third instruction for this tried and true recipe is “serve him only.” This is a resolve. It is a pledge of fidelity. The children of Israel did the work of preparation and they gathered at Mizpeh for the dedication service. They observed ordinances representing the work of revival that they had already performed. Pouring out the water represented the repentance and fasting required focus as they repaired what was broken in their lives.

Meanwhile, the Philistines find out about the congregation at Mizpeh and they mobilize to enjoy some military exercises at Israel’s expense. This became the crisis through which the Israelites saw the faithfulness of the Lord. The Lord would fight for Israel and they would not need to fear their enemies if they would resolve to serve only Him. A great victory was won for Israel against the Philistines. God beat the enemy which was the immediate answer. God blessed the nation which was the lingering result. Israel benefited for years which was an enduring reward.

Now that you know the story that accompanies this recipe, maybe it will make the delicacy taste sweeter? Maybe this isn’t a story of fluff but a story of faith that encourages you to try this recipe of revival?