Gwlad y Gogoniant

 

"I felt ablaze with a desire to go through the length and breadth of Wales to tell of the Saviour"

Evan Roberts

Wales shall again be known as "Gwlad y gogoniant" (The Land of Glory).


Not many in Wales know that the 1904 revival was the farthest reaching revival, since Pentecost. What God did here in Wales changed history. The flames of revival fire blew through the nations of the earth. In Wales alone, approximately 100,000 people converted to Christianity in an eighteen month period. Such were the effects of the revival, that many courts had no cases to try. That pubs turned into prayer gatherings. The rugby and football clubs closed for the duration of the revival, because people were not going to games, but attending church services.


If we think about how disruptive revival can be, would we pray for it? Have we reduced revival to a romantic idea? One that is just a repeat of what we already know to be true about how revivals behave. Maybe we like the thought of revival, of loved ones coming to Jeus, of prodigals returning. We day-dream of unity between the different denominations, of euphoric ecumenicalism. But what if God has something different in store.

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert"

Isaiah 43:19

A common phrase that gets bounded around is the phrase "New Thing". I do not wish to sound cynical here, I am actually trying to be provocative, but I have heard many prophetic words state - "Thus saith the Lord.....I am doing a new thing", but then these messengers go on and describe stuff that isn't new at all, just the same old stuff. When, on occasion, I have challenged such words, one of the defenses used by these messengers is, "Well, it may be new to that group, or to that person, therefore it is indeed 'New'". I can accept and celebrate that, I am not the measuring tool for the "new thing". What I ache for, to be honest, is actually the "new thing" that God wants to do. 

"For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe even if I told you"

Habakkuk 1:5b

I was in a meeting one time where a prophetic word quoted this verse. I began thinking, "oh is this another 'new thing' word?", when the host of the gathering prayed following the prophetic word,

"Lord, would you tell us anyway..."

I loved that repsonse. That was over thirty years ago, and it still makes me smile. Can we ask Him to tell us what the "new thing" will be, even if it makes no sense to us at all? Even better, could we just let Him do the "new thing"? 

In A.W. Tozer's book "The knowledge of the Holy", he makes a very observant point. He declares that we, as created beings, are limited in our ability to describe God, for we can only use created words and phrases, to describe the Creator. Words fall short, and there is no language to describe the indescribable. Oh I love this. It always makes my head hurt. My point then is how can we describe the "new thing" if we have never seen, nor experienced it? Exactly! Let's let God be God!

Back to Wales being "The land of Glory". When we speak of the Glory of God, we are speaking of His substance. I know this is impossible to do, but if you could biopsy the heart of God, you would find "glory" in every cell. The Hebrew word for "glory" means "weight". This is why it is common to feel something when God enters a room. In His mercy, He hides himself in a cloud, because if He were to reveal Himself in His fulness, we would probably die. Again, in mercy, He shows up and things happen. I believe that God wills more and more to show up where the church are, not only where they gather. We can cry for God to give us understanding in appropriating the reality of our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit. What would that look like in our day to day lives? Angels descending and ascending on our lives.

I recently ordered a map of Wales so that I can begin to pray over my nation. I put it on the wall in my studio, where my piano is, so that I can sing the word of God over the nation. I love the map, and that is Alan Clark (my first piano influence) from Dire Straits on the wall too 😀!!

I then had the thought, "Oh, I need to add flames to the map!". I had a vision when I was about 15 years old, of a map of Wales on fire. So, digitally, I added little flames all over the map. Take a look...

Wales shall again be known as "Gwlad y gogoniant" (The Land of Glory). Are there any carriers of Glory out there? Please come and say "Hello"!

"I felt ablaze with a desire to go through the length and breadth of Wales to tell of the Saviour"

Evan Roberts