It was July of 2018. It was the middle of the night and I was lying in bed in a farmhouse in the Austrian Alps when God gave me the most vivid dream. He then woke me and spoke to me in a way I had never experienced, with more specific words than He has ever communicated. The gist of the message was that Freed to Soar was ready to be born. For hours I sat in a dark hallway, writing everything I was hearing in the subtle light of a cracked bathroom door.
When I thought the words were complete, I headed back to my bed. But God had more. While the first part of the message was full of beautiful promises and visions, the second half was not. And the heart of what He spoke to me was highlighted in this statement:
“Read the prophets, because you are one. Be prepared to be treated like one.”
He went on to explain what that might look like. And, as you can imagine if you think of the prophets of the Bible, it was not pretty.
I came home from Austria excited and energized in my relationship with the Lord. And then it hit. Not a week after returning everything around me started falling apart. I started to experience exactly what God was preparing me for. I thought that my suffering was going to be a frontal attack on me for the unpopular words God was putting in my heart and on my lips. It turned out the Evil One was much crueler, targeting my very heart through my children.
So, I learned what it was to suffer like the prophets. But at the same time, I didn’t really embrace the first half of what God spoke to me that night: that I WAS a prophet. It seemed presumptive. It seemed arrogant. Who was I to believe that I somehow was able to hear from God more than any of my other Christian brothers or sisters? While it resonated on many levels, when I would let it, overall, I just could not embrace it.
Fast forward a year and a half to the morning of February 14, 2020. I am at home with a sick little girl, bummed that yet again I am going to miss my favorite spin class. But I am determined to exercise so as she falls asleep on the sofa, I put on my indoor walking shoes, throw on my headphones and take a “house walk” as I listen to the next episode of my favorite podcast.
Jo Saxton and Steph O’Brien have been doing a wonderful series on the Five-Fold Spiritual gifts from Ephesians 4 on their Lead Stories Podcast. I have already listened to the first three (teachers, shepherds, and apostles) and skipped the one on the evangelist, knowing that while I would LOVE that to be me, it just isn’t. So today, we have the gift of prophecy. Buckle your seatbelts folks!
As I start to listen, I feel tears well up in my eyes. And I kid you not, I weep through the entire thing. I know this is my gift. And the way it is described makes sense of almost everything I have felt and experienced throughout my adult life.
As Jo and Steph start describing what the modern-day prophetic gift looks like I know this is me:
- They bring correction and challenge the dominant perspectives of the culture
- They question the status quo
- They highlight and bring rejoicing in the glimpses of God’s coming Kingdom in this fallen one
- They desire more than anything for people to turn back to God (and not just relationally in salvation, but in ALL things—to be who He has called us to be, caring about the things He cares about and living for His purposes in the world).
And the description that rings most true and really opens the floodgates is this:
The prophet is someone who holds the world in one hand, and the hand of God in the other and allows the electricity to flow.
This is the heart of what I am seeking to do with the “lies” and the “un’s” of Freed to Soar because at my core this is who I am. And while the mission and purpose resonate, what also resonates are the implications Jo and Steph highlight:
- Modern day prophets are never quite at home in the world they are in and are never quite settled with the way things are
- While prophets may be able to check out of the RESPONSIBILITY for what they are sensing, they can never check out of the FEELING. If they try and ignore it, it will burn like fire in their bones, just as it did for Jeremiah.
As they describe this gift, I feel myself growing more comfortable allowing this word “Prophet” to give my soul meaning. It doesn’t mean that every thought or belief I have is right; it just means that on some very important issues God does speak to me powerfully and directly. I find comfort in the affirmation that just like anyone else, there will be times when I “mishear.” But most importantly are these words: “a prophet is a FORTHTELLER, not a FORTUNE TELLER.” Having the spiritual gift of prophecy does not mean I am to bring forth NEW revelations, but rather OLD BIBLICAL TRUTHS that God wants to speak into a particular situation in this moment in time.
This revelation was a freedom tool on so many levels. First, it helped me rest in the fact that I wasn’t crazy. Those times in my life when I had a really hard time just “letting something go,” questioning why I was “being so stubborn,” it was actually the Holy Spirit burning like fire inside me to say something. Second, it helped me be comforted in the fact that believing God speaks to me very personally and specifically is not arrogant. At one point in the podcast, Jo made a statement and it literally felt like chains falling from my heart:
“In some ways it feels lofty to think about that we would hear God. But I don’t think that’s actually about us. I think that’s God communicating with His kids.”
This revelation also compelled me to stop resisting the compulsion to speak when I KNOW it is from the Lord. As much as I may not want to, this is what God has given me to do, in order…
“to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13 NIV).
I would never suggest that an Evangelist not share the gospel with those who have never heard it. I would never ask a Pastor to stop caring for the sheep. So why would I ask myself to be silent when the words He has given me are there for the building up of the Church and the advancement of His Kingdom?
So, what is your spiritual gift? Are you a teacher? Are you an evangelist? Are you a pastor? Are you an apostle? Are you a prophet? God has placed His gifts in each of you and your responsibility is to discover those gifts. Not only will identifying your gift and then putting it into practice serve to build up others, but it will be a way for you to live an abundantly full and purposeful life in this world.