Life revives
For thus says the High and Lofty One Who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, With him who has a contrite and humble spirit, To revive the spirit of the humble, And to revive the heart of the contrite ones. Isaiah 57:15
When we feel discouraged and dejected in life, we feel like something is wrong or dying inside of us. We seek help and revival from other sources, so self-help books are so popular because they somehow give us tools to elevate ourselves. Nevertheless, these self-help resources are good, but they should not divert our attention from the true source, which is "haya".
What is “Haya”? There is much significance to this word since it means "life". “Haya” means to live, restore life, and revive, as shown twice in the key verse. According to many anti-aging and cellular theories, human aging results from cells ceasing to divide or falling apart. The same applies to our spiritual being. We don't want our "spiritual bodies" to age, which is why we need spiritual regeneration, such as “revival”.
Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. According to 2 Corinthians 4:6, spiritual regeneration is possible, but how can we ask God to give us life that is "revival"?
Today's key verse answers the questions, but we need to acknowledge that God dwells in two places. In the first place: He dwells in the high and holy place, which is far away, and in the second place, He dwells in our lowly place, which is within our contrite and humble spirit. I find the contrast interesting, because God could have sat on His throne thousand miles away, yet He resides among us when our spirit is humble and contrite. He is with us, but God has also promised to "revive" those who are contrite and humble, so whoever humbles himself before God will be revived.
Does God only revive us when we are poor, dejected, suffering? This is not what contrite and humble spirit really means. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom.” Mat 5:3 Being poor in spirit is to understand that God is holy so a man’s sinful nature is acknowledged that causes feelings of contrition which means “brokenhearted in spirit”, so when we are aware of His two places, His high and Holy one, then He will come down into our inward spirit to revive us.
We pray that God will give us "Haya" to help us revive, restore, and transform our brokenness into wholeness, and our death into life.
Blessing prayer: I pray for spiritual revival, acknowledging that You dwell in the high holy place and in our spirit, and that You will revive the dead places within us as well. In Jesus’ name, Amen
