O God, we have heard it with our own ears—
our ancestors have told us
of all you did in their day,
in days long ago:
…it was not their own strong arm that gave them victory.
It was your right hand and strong arm
and the blinding light from your face that helped them,
for you loved them.
~ Psalm 44:1-3 NLT
I was unprepared for the surge of emotion that gripped me while viewing the funeral of Evangelist Billy Graham. I listened to family and friends talk about a life that gave no preference to his own comfort, a life laser focused on rescuing those trapped in sin, a life that poured out abundant grace when his own children navigated sin and pain. Billy’s life impacted my own faith journey at the age of ten.
In the book Whisper, Mark Batterson writes about Billy Graham’s college experience while studying abroad in England. His class visited the home of John Wesley, the founder of the Methodist movement. In one of the bedrooms, two impressions on the floor were believed to be the spot Wesley spent a lot of time, kneeling in prayer. When the tour concluded, and the class was loaded on the bus, Billy was missing. His professor retraced their steps and found him kneeling in John Wesley’s same knee impressions, praying out loud, “O Lord, do it again!”
That prayer “Do it Again” was answered over 3.2 million times. God answered that prayer every time an individual gave his/her life to Christ at one of Billy’s crusades. I cannot substantiate this thought, but I’m confident it was answered by an additional countless number of individuals who heard the compelling Gospel message during Billy’s funeral.
That one phrase washed over me while I watched the “home-going” of this great man of God. As tears streamed down my face, I quietly pleaded, “Do it again, Lord. Do it again!”
In a world of comparison, where we’re driven by the size of our platform, the size of our paycheck, or the size of our clothing, Jesus is looking for those who would seize hold of the size of their God, and the endless depths of His compassion:
…It was not their own strong arm that gave them victory.
It was your right hand and strong arm
and the blinding light from your face that helped them,
for you loved them.
In the words of Erwin McManus, “God will never increase our influence until he deepens our compassion.” God is looking for those who would thrust the whole weight of their lives, every dream, and every desire into His keeping. He yearns to work through those who would allow his love to penetrate their thoughts and actions. God’s powerful arm is as creative in us as it was the moment he spoke order into the chaos – Do it again, Lord! His arm is as powerful to rescue today as the day He freed his children from captivity in Egypt – Do it again, Lord! God’s arm is as powerful to accomplish his purposes today as the day He brought His people into the land He promised to give them – Do it again, Lord!
Whether the opportunity to proclaim God’s salvation was to the masses or to the one, Billy surrendered His entire life to declare the good news of a life-changing relationship with Christ. Driven by compassion, he poured out his life so that people would come to repentance through Christ. He knew it wasn’t his own arm of flesh that could save, but trusted fully in Jesus’ compassion and desire to rescue. Billy Graham wouldn’t host a crusade in a city unless a band of prayer warriors would gather to prepare the hearts in that city through prayer. God heard the cries of those servants – Do it again, Lord!
May God raise up a generation filled with humility and dependency on himself, a generation driven by a passion for the lost over passion for a pay-check. Raise up those who would notice the person in front of us and would love that one enough to live the Good News of the life-changing Gospel before them.
Do it again, Lord!
Do it again—in me!
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