Prophetic Dreams still Exists!
It may sound like a cliché, but it’s true. We serve a good, good Father! Over the summer, planting the church, traveling around, evangelizing, and creating Bible studies was amazing. Starting a new church and assisting another changes eternity for so many, possibly for generations! As Reinhard Bonnke would say, “Plunder hell and populate heaven.” But all of the work and travel had drained me. I was ready for a time of refreshing, and I think that’s something we all need to make time for.
What I’m about to share is very personal, but I want to share it so that others may have hope in God. I know I’m not the only person who has experienced pain within the church body, especially from church leaders we look up to. When that happens, I don’t want offense to pull any of us away from the church. Our faith is in God, not in man. The church is a body of people who know they are messed up, seeking the One who is perfect and died in our place. He died for our sin, condemnation, and guilt. It’s time we put offense on the cross and let it die there with our sin, because Jesus never held on to offense.
God gave me a personal refreshing while I was at my first Asia Pacific meeting. It was in Thailand, with all the missionaries from the surrounding countries. This was the second time I had seen over 200 missionaries gathered in one place, and it was amazing to be there and meet so many of them!
On the third day of the event, I received a message from somebody I never expected to hear from. A minister had reached out to me on Facebook. I had looked up to him and sought his advice during my time as a youth leader in Georgia. Our story hadn’t ended well, but his letter was very apologetic for what had happened between us when I lost my previous job. I was being paid as an intern at the time, and both of my bosses wanted to hire me for $5,000 monthly. I was in a very sweet spot, but then I was quickly thrown into the pit.
God was changing things in me, and He led me to call my family before I lost my job. I told them I was going to become a missionary. Then, two weeks after that commitment to God and family, I lost both of my jobs! Losing that job had to happen. Otherwise, I’m sure I would have been quite content to pursue my missionary career slowly. Who wouldn’t want their paycheck to increase by over 200%? It would be easy to get comfortable with the extra income! It was painful to be hurt by somebody I respected so highly. But God CAN use even this for good, though it may not feel good at the time. Even Jesus wasn’t exempt from being hurt by people.
Each morning, well-known AG leaders brought us a powerful sermon. But the sermon that particular morning in Thailand comforted me like a baby wrapped in his mother’s arms! I had just read this minister’s apology letter. Then came a sermon about Joseph the dreamer, who was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. I’m sure you all know the story.
After many years of slavery, Joseph had become fruitful in the land of his suffering, where he had been made second in command. When his brothers stood before him asking to buy grain, Joseph remembered the dreams he had as a young boy. In the end, Joseph was not bitter toward them. He said, “But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.” The sermon’s emphasis was on how God can use the bad things that have happened to us to preserve lives!
Of course I’ve seen many miracles, but that day God was showing me something so powerful! I thought to myself, “Who am I, out of all these veteran missionaries in this room?” Yet God was so clearly speaking this sermon straight to me through Rob Rhoden. That hour alone was powerful to me, but one month earlier I had also dreamed that I would be reconciled with a minister I had once looked up to. I remember sharing this dream with one of my friends because I was hopeful.
I will truly never look at the story of Joseph the same way again! Joseph later said to his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” It fascinates me how God used all of this to call me out to be a missionary. Had I not lost my jobs, I probably would not have committed to being a missionary, especially not in the short time it took after losing them. I was serving in another country in only 3 months’ time! I wrote the other side of this story back in November 2011, as God was showing how He is the chess master of our lives. You can read those missionary stories about how God called me to the Philippines.
Many, if not all, of us in the church or in ministry have been wounded by people we care about. Then we ask ourselves, “How can a Christian who knows the Bible and follows Jesus do such a thing?” I’m no exception. Even as I write this, I’m reminded of a very recent situation where somebody I look up to caused me a lot of grief. I don’t need to be right. I need to love them.
Oh, it would be so easy to get bitter! But as Rob said, “Let’s not get bitter, let’s get better.” God is able to use the bad things done against you to save the lives of those around you! Never let the sin done against us produce sin within us. Be the salt of the earth, and preserve the world from the decay of sin by exposing the truth! Hold your head up high, and keep your eyes and ears fixed on Almighty God!