Kevin Reilly – Gdansk, Poland

In March this year, a number of us in the Lighthouse Community met to pray and seek God together. There were prophetic gifts among us and we came together, expectant to hear something from God and to bless one another. God spoke to me that morning and impressed on me the image of a Lighthouse being lashed by mighty waves. I will send waves of my power over you – waves of blessing and waves of my power.

It’s a clear and simple picture and one that contradicts what we would actually want in the natural. Who would want to find himself hidden away in an isolated building in the middle of the ocean being lashed by giant breakers? I prefer the gentle lap of good things upon my shore. I like it when I am in control and can stand upon the pinnacle of my life, gazing longingly into a calm and peaceful and well-ordered horizon.

Who needs the chaos, urgency and terror of wall-like waves breaking over his life?

Europe does. We Europeans have a great love of the well-ordered and the systematised; and it doesn’t really matter whether you live in the East or the West of Europe, a systematic and ordered approach to life underpins so much of what we do. Everything done in an orderly fashion – we Christians cry. Our love of a rules based life – whether secular or religious – dominates. The ambition of many is of uninterrupted and peaceful horizons where my needs are met and my personal rights are preserved and, but for the occasional crisis, life drifts on predictably.

I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—the Lord of hosts is his name.(Is 51:15)

In contrast to this, Isaiah the prophet sees a time coming where the Lord will stir up the seas of established Religion and Roman dominance. Jesus’ life and ministry is the beginning of a long-awaited revolution in the earth where those walking in darkness will see a great light (Is 9:2) and the brightness of the Gospel will shine unyielding and defiantly in the earth and darkness will not overcome it (Jn 1:5).

Jesus is a counter-cultural, one-of-a-kind, tsunami of unyielding blessing and power.

In humble obedience to his Father, he roars in the face of spiritual forces and legalistic charlatans. He will not compromise. He will not power-share for the sake of ease. He is the Lord of Hosts – literally the Lord of angel-armies, the Lord of war. He is a subversive – one who has come to establish an ever-increasing Kingdom and to rule. The long-awaited head-crusher of Satan (Gen 3:15) is in the earth and he has come with great purpose: to disarm and subdue his enemies and to establish a Kingdom that cannot be shaken (Heb 12:28).

But our King is also of the people! He choses life on the margins over life in a mansion. He embraces the outcast at the expense of the in-crowd. His anointing (Is 61 and Lk 4) to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind and release for the captive is a fitting anointing for such a King! Jesus owned nothing, sought out the oppressed, placed hands upon the blind and the leprous and proclaimed a season of forgiveness to humanity through his perfect obedience to God’s law; and so was numbered himself with the transgressors, bearing the sin of many (Is 53:12). He is a King of the people. For the people.

In his paper outlining the challenges and need for the Gospel in Europe, Jim Memory (you can read more about him here) writes:

Though Europe’s soil today might appear arid and unyielding, the seed of the Kingdom is being sown and will produce fruit. Our task is to sow. Our motivation is our love of God and of His world. Our field is Europe.

Waves of power and blessing will undoubtedly include many things but surely such a move of God upon the arid and unyielding soil of Europe must lead to a warming of hardened hearts, revelations of grace and gospel love, convictions of sin, physical healings and the release into freedom of the demonised and oppressed.

And so stir up the seas Lord and make the waves roar and baptise us afresh in the mighty power of the Holy Spirit! Europe certainly needs the steady faithfulness of pioneering pray-ers and planters. But along with this, we need the mighty presence of a regime-changing, miracle-working Lord and Saviour.