Woodstock was held on a farm in Pennsylvania in August 1969. It was a time of great darkness; it was the hippie era with drugs, promiscuous sex, and rebellion that brought with it a mindset of anti-establishment and anti-government. I did not attend, but I did attend Explo `72 three years later in Dallas, Texas. This was the largest and most conspicuous gathering of the Jesus Movement of the `70s.
Explo `72 was a tremendous evangelistic conference which brought together about 200,000 high school or college age people from all over the United States and some foreign countries. The purpose was to equip young adults and train them in evangelism and outreach. During the day we met in smaller groups for training sessions, and in the afternoon, we scattered throughout the city to share our faith. Every evening we filled the Cotton Bowl outdoor stadium to hear powerful preachers, such as Billy Graham, and music groups such as Larry Norman, Love Song, and Andraé Crouch & The Disciples.
During the final evening of the conference, each person was given a candle when we arrived. At the end of the evening, we experienced a powerful visual of the importance of each of our individual parts to God’s plan. The stadium lights were turned down, and one person in each section began lighting another person’s candle until the entire stadium was glowing. We sang the song “Pass It On” which starts with the lyrics, “It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing.”
A man who attended Explo `72 analyzed the long-term effects of those who attended. It was a limited study because he only gathered information from churches in South Carolina that had sent youth groups to the event. He gloriously found that more than 60 percent of those who participated in the event had entered the ministry, became missionaries, or were involved in some aspect of theological education.
So, while Satan had a plan to lead young people into bondage in the `70s, just like he does today, the good news is that God always has a much bigger and better plan to set all people free! We see that in Isaiah 59:19, which says, “When the enemy comes in like a flood, The Spirit of the LORD will lift up a standard against him.”
You may be at a dark place in your life right now, but that is the exact time that God is moving in the darkness to bring about His agenda. Satan may attempt evil schemes, but God is already working out His own plan. If your world, or the world around you, looks dark, know that the Spirit of the LORD is lifting a standard against the darkness.
I want to encourage you that no matter what you may be facing today, the Spirit of God is working out His good plans for your life. Let Him give you His dream that you are free and victorious; in fact, I speak words over your life today of freedom from fear, lack, sickness, and isolation, and I ask Him to bring you through to victory!
Eileen Daniels is a staff member of Lord of Hosts Church.
