Today is the 35th anniversary of the Mt. St. Helens Eruption. It’s because of this eruption that I am fascinated with volcanoes and earthquakes. And I think the reason is that we lived about 20-25 miles away from it when it blew. I would love to tell you how much I remember about that day. Feeling the earthquake, seeing the plume shoot miles and miles into the sky. I’ve heard a lot about it, and seen pictures my dad took from our back yard, but I was too  young to remember. In fact, I was 9 months old. So, now you know how old I am.

Whether you care or not, there have been earthquakes of a magnitude 3.0 or greater at 4 volcanic locations in the west. (If you’re as cool as I am, you can read about it here.)

“This dormant volcanic earthquake activity is a sign of greater seismic pressure building in the area. The greater pressure means there is an increased threat of a larger earthquake in the region.”

You can see, the pressure is building. And as this article describes, there will need to be a release of pressure in the future. What will that look like? We won’t really know until it happens. But, we are seeing the signs that something is happening.

I think the same is true for what is happening spiritually in our time. For a long time, I have wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself. I have wanted to see God move in miraculous ways. I read the stories of the 1st century church and I long to be a part of something like that. But, just like my only recollection of this amazing event that happened 35 years ago is second hand, my only recollection of the miraculous move of the early church is what I read in the gospels and Acts. In the same way, I have wanted to see Mt. St. Helens erupt in person (as long as there are no casualties), I have wanted to see this miraculous movement of Christianity work in the power we read about.

Well, I may be wrong, but I think we will see this. I think we will see this in our country, in our city and in our church. It may not be overnight, it may take some time, but I think we will see it. The pressure is building in our world. We can see the signs that God is awakening people. At the same time we see the gospel being pushed aside and stifled around the world. There is great persecution of Christians going on. There is a great attack being leveraged against those who have put their faith in Christ.

The conditions are moving toward what, I think, will be a part of seeing God move in great and miraculous ways only He can take credit for.

Will you join me in praying that God will prepare us for that day? This time we are in is a season of preparation. We are preparing for what God is going to do in and (more importantly) through us. We need to be fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. We need more of Jesus in our lives. We need to have a better understanding of his word. We need to be devoted to prayer. We need to be building life-giving relationships with other believers and we need to be doing everything we can to advance the gospel into the dark and messy places.

Heavenly Father, will you prepare us to do your work? Will you prepare us to advance the gospel even if the cost is high? Help us to pursue you more each day, to know you more, to love you more, to worship you more and to serve you more. And we ask that you use us to do things in this community that only you can take the credit for. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.