I have a friend who married later in life and really, really, REALLY wants a baby. She’s not too old, and according to the doctors, there’s no medical reason why she and her husband cannot have children. But, as you know, sometimes it just doesn’t happen.
A few months ago, she was at some sort of prophetic prayer gathering and she was told that God had answered her prayer and by such and such a date, she would be pregnant. She’s not one to jump into believing these sorts of things, but this leader was a reputable sort, as far as she knew, and she took the risk and by faith, believed that this was a Word from God.
The time has come and past that she was told she would be with child. And she’s not.
Disappointment and confusion has set in. I guess that’s why I am quite skeptical of ‘prophetic’ people. What are you supposed to think when that specific event doesn’t happen? Did you not have enough faith? Did the prophet hear wrong? Was God just testing you? Is the entire prophetic thing messed up? Should we only believe God and not people when it comes to these things? Yet, in the Bible, God spoke through prophets.
I’ve often heard that God answers prayer 3 ways: yes, no, and wait (not sure if it’s as simple as that, anymore, though). But with prophesies, that doesn’t apply. When the answer is ‘Yes, but wait until’… and then the time comes and goes, what are you left with, besides disappointment?
As I’ve been told by our Bible study leader at church: in the OT times, if you were a prophet from God, you had to be right 100% of the time or you would be stoned. Yikes. That’s serious.
I have never ever had God reveal anything like events and their specific timing to me, and if I did, I’d have to be so sure before I would tell someone else. It takes faith and guts to tell someone that God has told you that such-and-such will happen. I wonder if the biblical prophets had any ‘I wonder if this will come true’ moments? Or were they SO CONVINCED that God had spoken to them? I tend to believe they had no doubts about it. They knew what God could do and what he would do. And sometimes those messages weren’t tidings of great joy!
God CAN do anything, but WILL he? And what person knows that answer? Even, when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were going to be thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to worship the golden image, they said, “We know our God can deliver us, and he WILL deliver us out of your (Neb’s) hand, but even if he doesn’t, we will not serve other gods.” There was unwavering faith, and yet a ‘but’ in there.
For my friend, there are unanswered questions at the moment. That’s tough.
This is a very deep post! I'm going to have to ponder on it a bit, but you've sure raised some provocative points.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to venture out and make a comment - it isn't well thought out so here goes - because of what Christ has done for us we are all prophets, priests and kings and so when God supposedly gives a prophesy to someone else about you or for you this needs to be confirmed by whether he gave you the same message since you are a prophet too. There are many well intentioned people out there and there are also false prophets too. Sometimes when we want something sooo badly our emotions get the better of us and we are willing to believe what we want to hear.
ReplyDeleteI will step out on a limb and say this is spiritual abuse. This kind of thing is widespread in certain Christian circles. Part of the problem is nobody is ever held accountable when their prophecy fails to come to fruition. I don't mean they should be stoned of course, but there should be some way to get them to see they are doing more harm than good.
ReplyDeleteSorry to be so blunt, but as the parent of a child who has had several people claim he would "grow new limbs" I can identify on some level with your friend. I am so sorry this happened to her.
@Maureen- it definitely requires pondering; let me know what conclusion you've come to! ;)
ReplyDelete@Diana - good points; the definition of prophecy in the Greek (I think) is a word from God, so that makes sense with what you're saying. I do think that some might have the gift of prophecy as in future-telling, as Daniel did. But those are few and far between. In the Bible, it seems, it was often angels bringing that type of news.
@Kristie- You're right - nobody is held accountable at this point in time; it does seem like spiritual abuse, doesn't it?
I don't put much stock in prophesies unless they're confirmed by at least one other person.
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