Romans 11:8 says, “(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.”

Have you ever had those moments where your arms or legs “fall asleep?” Maybe you wake up after a very deep and long sleep, and you had your head resting on your arm, and as soon as you start stirring, you have practically no feeling in your arm. You may even grab your arm with your other hand and start moving it just to increase blood flow again so you can have feeling back in it. By doing this, your body starts feeling better again and goes back to normal, as though nothing ever happened!

I believe spiritually that the body of Christ has fallen asleep. Their flow of strength and movement has weakened as a result of the head, or leadership, falling asleep against another part of the body. The flow of God’s purpose and anointing has been cut off, and the result is no movement. That part of the body cannot function in their calling as a result of such turmoil and distraction from the head to the body, or from one part of the body to another. The result of division in the church is a spirit of slumber, in which God’s will means nothing to an individual or group of people! It is a spirit that results in someone not seeing God’s presence or hearing God’s voice. It is a spiritually dark age where God seems a million miles away! Until the church wakes up out of its slumber and spiritually resurrects, our surrounding culture will only continue to grow in sin and weaken in faith. Only when we awaken will God bring a new light to us of the truth, one in which we can live by and proclaim!

Several people have awakened and are doing their part in the church, but many have fallen asleep. The reason is because they think it is all about preaching or singing, and they are not doing their part due to is seeming that it is insignificant or unrecognizable. They have fallen asleep because they believe God has nothing for them to do and that every little thing they do is unimportant. We must realize that no matter what part we do as believers, it is still service to God, and it may never get a handclap or an “Amen” in church, but God recognizes and honors it, and that is all that matters!

Even though several parts of the body are not function due to sleep, there is still hope! We, as other parts of the body, who are revived and strengthened to do a work for the kingdom of the LORD, can wake up those other parts of the body by moving it. We shake it up by stirring up the gifts and callings God has for their lives, preaching the truth and shining the light of God. There must be a shaking if we want the whole church to be revived because revival begins within the church, and then it leaks into the surrounding community and environment. We can no longer be bound by a spirit of slumber, but we must wake up with a spirit of revival and overcome this division and confusion in the body of Christ!