Last night, Jan rustled in bed. Her movement awakened me. The faint fragrance of her perfume came to me as she changed positions. Immediately, I sensed that her fragrance was a word from the Lord to me.

As our attention is being drawn to wars and rumors of wars in the Middle East, something more profound is happening. There is the fragrance of revival moving across the region.

I thought of Iran specifically. They have lived under the repressive heel of a dark regime for decades, but that heel is not the plan of God. A revival of the Church is His plan.

Last week, a friend of ours sent us a message about what is happening in Iran. It is like what took place on the Day of Pentecost when the people exclaimed, “How can this be? These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages!” (Acts 2:7-8).

Our friend’s message shared this testimony, “I just received a message from Iran that, at this very moment, one of our team leaders showed up to speak to a group of 100, which had already swelled to over 1000. The crowd keeps growing.

He speaks in Farsi, but the crowd somehow hears his words in Arabic, Turkish, and Kurdish! The team doesn’t know how the crowd clearly understands the Gospel in their own tongue!!! They are calling for more leaders to come and share the Good News. Perhaps, before the night ends, thousands will decide to follow Jesus.”

Paul wrote about this fragrance of our lives, “Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God” (II Corinthians 2:15). God’s Spirit is stirring the Church in the Middle East. The fragrance of their faithfulness is rising up to God, releasing signs, wonders, and miracles in the suffering Church. No oppression or threats of violence can hinder the release of that fragrance.

Our task is to focus on the fragrance, not the oppression. The fragrance of the Church in Iran will be part of what will define the future of the Church in the Middle East.