The problem with prophetic people

Wise words from Ps Lip, one of the pastors at Cornerstone Community Church ...

The problem with prophetic people is that we are given to know something about the future and yet at the same time, we have no idea how it will look like when it happens.

Think for a moment about Joseph. He was given prophetic dreams in which he saw his call to rule and govern. Yet he could never imagine that the fulfillment of his dreams would be in a place he did not know, to a people that was not his own, in a language he could not speak, and much less the process that he had to go through to come into his prophetic future. Likewise with Abraham or Moses or David - none of them could have imagined the timing or the form in which the fulfillment of their future would be, even though they all received prophetic calls. Even the disciples could not imagine that Jesus had to die or the death Jesus had to endure to become the Messiah of not just Israel, but of the world.

If this is a consistent picture in the word of God, then it means that this is a pattern through which God will work in all the lives of His people. What this means is that if you have been given a prophetic sense of the future that God has in store for you, you can be certain it is not going to appear the way you imagine it would. With this in mind, I believe then that we can get into deep trouble if we try to help God along by trying to orchestrate things to suit what WE have imagined our future to look like. From a scriptural point of view, I want to show you what we can and need to do: -

1. They kept their integrity
The people that went on to fulfill their prophetic future were people that kept their integrity even when things did not turn out the way they expected or wanted them to turn out. Joseph kept his purity when tempted by Potiphar's wife. His work ethics gained him favour, whether as a slave or as a prisoner, and that enabled him to progress on in God's plan for him. David continued to walk in integrity towards Saul even though Saul was after his life. It didn't matter that these men were going through contradictory circumstances in their lives, they kept their reputation intact through integrity.

2. They kept their walk with God
We ought not to forsake our walk with God just because we are not in the place that we imagined ourselves to be. It was in the delays of his life, that Abraham grew in his walk with God. Many of the names of God were revealed to Abraham prior to the birth of Isaac. In fact, it is in the times of delay and contradiction that God shows up and begins to teach us about Himself. This instructional season is crucial to our ability to handle the task of our prophetic call in the future. It is important, therefore, for us to be aware of what He is speaking to us NOW and pay attention to the lessons and dealings He has for us. Learning the present lessons unlocks the future.

3. They kept believing despite circumstances
This is faith! It is to completely lean our human personality onto Christ in trust and confidence. The great men and women in the bible who entered into their prophetic future clung on to God's promises and did not waver despite how their natural circumstances were around them. They kept believing and never gave up. They counted God faithful, trustworthy and able to fulfill His word to them, and God always came through for them. Not only does He come through for us, He does exceeding, abundantly, above all that we can ask or think of.

I received the call of God at the age of 12. Over the years, I've tried many times to help God along, towards what I had imagined the call of God would look like. However, these efforts never seem to take off. In fact, often times, the opposite seems to happen. At the most crucial moments of my life, I always seem to encounter failure and disappointment. However, after 25 years of hindsight, I now see that those failures brought me closer to His plans for me and placed me in line to be where I am today. I still have many unfulfilled promises, but I am fast realising that there will be unexpected turns ahead of me that I can never anticipate. I can rest though in the knowledge that I am in good hands - His hands.

Pastor Lim Lip Yong
24 November 2012