What will Jesus find when he visits SE Michigan?

The churches and ministries which are involved in the EACH outreach, including us in The Word of God,  are convinced that this is a critical hour for Detroit and the SE Michigan region.  The practical, economic and human crises are obvious.  But the question is ‘What is God doing in this hour?’  Our answer is that he has allowed us to come to this pass so that we are prepared for a visitation.  In this hour he wants to come to our region to bring transformation to people and through them to our area.  This is an exciting & hopeful thought!  But the questions arises, ‘what will Jesus find when he visits SE Michigan?’  In Luke 18 Jesus tells the parable of the persistent or,  to use the old word,  importunate widow who pesters the unjust judge until he gives her justice.  Encouraging us to be equally persistent in prayer he concludes, ‘I tell you, he (God) will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?’   That is a haunting question.  When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?  Jesus was amazed by the faith of the Centurion with the sick servant, but he agonized over the ‘little faith’ of his disciples at times.  In Matthew 13 Jesus visits his hometown of Nazareth and we are told in v 58, ‘And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.’    We know our region needs the powerful in-breaking of the Kingdom of God.  We need lots of miracles when Jesus comes.  He is coming, but what will he find among his people?  We do not expect those who have yet to know him to receive him with faith, but how about we who do?  It would be very possible for us to go through the motions with the EACH campaign, sort of give it a quick nod while we go about normal life, thinking it would be nice if something happened, but we don’t expect much.  Jesus could come and find little faith – and so not do many miracles in our hometown.   But we have a choice.  We can turn our hearts to the Lord in great earnestness for our region and cry out in prayer.  We can be persistent like the widow and the saints who cry out night in day in Luke 18.  We can invest ourselves in being a witness in words and in deeds of service – sacrificially for the 40 Days of the EACH campaign.  We can respond to Jesus’ coming with faith expressed in prayer and action.  And he could do more than just a few miracles, he could do wonderful things, transforming things in the lives of people and our region.   Jesus is coming to our region with a desire to save.  Let him find faith among his people to join him in his mission.   --  Phil Tiews