UKRAINE AND RUSSIA
The war in Ukraine continues to be the dominant event that has the attention of
the world. It is already shifting the geopolitical map of the world. It has set in
motion forces of great change and has the momentum to become a force for even
greater change. As the saying goes, “If you don’t change your direction you will end up where
you are headed.” The first question we should ask then is, “Where is this headed, and if this
is not headed where we want, how can we change direction?”
We will look at this both in the natural and in the spiritual, since they are interwoven. As I have shared, the first prophetic revelation I received after my conversion was that the greatest revival of the church age would
come out of Russia. At the time, I did not know anyone else who has received this revelation—until I met Bob Jones. He and I talked about this many times.
When the Iron Curtain fell, I thought this might lead to the revival. As missionaries poured into the former Soviet Union, great moves of God emerged in Russia, Ukraine, and many other former Soviet Bloc nations. Yet all this combined was not what I had been shown. When I asked the Lord about this, He showed me all those called to these movements would become laborers in the great revival to come.
Since we “see in part,” I confess I am still not sure what will make this revival coming out of Russia “the greatest of the church age.” It might be its quality, the number of people brought into the kingdom, its worldwide impact, or a combination of factors. I still don’t have clarity on this, but I do know I would not have been shown this so early in my Christian walk unless we were to have some part in this. And in the last few weeks, our part has become clearer.
At this writing, the dangers remain great for this conflict to spread. It has the potential to be the beginning of a worldwide conflict. It has certainly drawn the attention of the world to Ukraine and Russia, which has
Europe has been deeply shaken by this conflict. No doubt this was a needed wakeup call. Every weakness in the European Union, NATO, and Russian Federation is now being illuminated. One definition of crisis is “the point in a disease when it is determined if a patient will live or die.” This is a present reality for all these entities. At this time, only NATO seems strengthened by this crisis, as its role has been magnified.
More nations suddenly want to join NATO, and current members are learning how vital it is to keep their obligations to NATO. Still, it was the threat of Ukraine joining NATO that ignited this war. It may be difficult
to imagine what a great horror this was to Putin and Russia. We should remember the Cuban Missile Crisis and how horrified America was when Soviet Bloc nukes and forces were brought so close to us.
The fact that Russia is taking such a terrible and unexpected military toll may help or hurt the chances of a resolution. It is not safe to corner a bear, and the Russian bear is now cornered. This is the greatest fear of
Europe and the rest of the world: that Russia could use nukes or other weapons of mass destruction to stave off its looming defeat.
Still, our greatest danger is the vacuum of world leadership, especially in the U.S. The U.S. is the only country with the power to bring this conflict to a better conclusion. It is not that the U.S. has done nothing. It has supplied Ukraine with needed supplies and weapons and imposed many sanctions on Russia. Yet we would have been far more effective had this not been so late in coming. This reveals the state of our current leadership—
reactive, timid, and slow.
The United States’ tentative response to this crisis cannot help but embolden Putin and alarm our allies.
When your leadership is reactive rather than proactive, you surrender control to your adversary. The most powerful factor in any conflict is initiative that keeps your adversaries guessing and allows you to control the
circumstances. Our current leadership does not seem capable of this.
A few months ago, the whole world witnessed how being reactive can put even the most powerful nation on earth at a great disadvantage to a much weaker foe. We paid a terrible and humiliating price for our disgraceful
Afghanistan withdrawal. Just a little initiative could have
changed the entire outcome of that debacle. We see repeats of this in the current supply chain crisis, inflation, and cultural battles that are destroying our nation.
Again, when a strong, decisive leader sees lack of decisiveness in their counterpart, they will use this to their advantage. Putin is a strong, decisive leader. So long as he sees weakness in his U.S. counterpart, he will continue believing he can win this war. In nearly every world conflict right now, most of the initiative and decisiveness are being demonstrated by our adversaries, not the righteous. If this does not change soon, we will
end up where we are headed, and that is not a place any
of us want to be right now.
What can we do about this? First, we can be proactive by preparing for the coming Russian-Ukraine revival. Preparation results in far greater outcomes. That is why Jesus implored His disciples nearly 2,000 years ago to
pray for laborers in His harvest. As we come to the great harvest at the end of this age, we are called to be its laborers. We are the ones Christians have been praying for since Jesus walked the earth.
It’s time to arise, take the initiative, not react to the enemy’s initiatives, but tear down the strongholds of darkness and build fortresses of righteousness, justice, and truth to prepare the way for our coming King.
Next month, we will examine more ways we can be proactive and take initiative in the major crises of our times and start turning the tide of defeat into victory.
In His Service,
Rick Joyner
I Corinthians 15:58