PROPHECIES

In December 2010, I was at a weeklong convention with a dear friend. We were divided into groups for a specific session of the convention and my friend and I joined the singles’ group. During one of our singles’ group meetings, the minister asked us to write down by faith our wedding dates on a sheet of paper each. He stated that he understood some people did that before but they shouldn’t give up, they should write it again. So, I wrote and my friend wrote. If I can remember very well, I filled in July 2011. I did this because I frown at short courtships, for me a courtship should not be less than six months at least. I met some other ladies there and they wrote down their wedding dates too. We were all excited because we were cocksure 2011 was our year, we knew the Lord would honour our faith. None of us was engaged then, but we were sure the Lord would settle us somehow.
Fast forward to now, I am not yet married neither is my friend. I lost contact with the other ladies we were together at the camp except for one and she got married in 2012 or sometimes last year. What am I driving at? It is the fact that a prophecy spoken by a servant of God at a particular point in time is not meant for everybody under him at that time. It might be for just one person. Shout and jump all you can, if it is not for you, it is not for you. I’m sure that wedding-date-writing exercise was meant for some people that day and they would have been married on the exact dates they specified in their papers. Does that mean my friend and I did not have enough faith? Yes, we did have faith; we didn’t doubt that we would be married in 2011. I’m certain it wasn’t just our time (as much as we didn’t want to see it that way).

Another thing I’ve learnt is that when you log on to a particular prophecy, if you are not careful, you might get a fake fulfilment before the real fulfilment comes. (Note that I do not claim all prophecies. If a prophecy doesn’t correlate with the soundness of the Scriptures, I ignore it and there are some prophecies I know are not for me.) I claimed a prophecy under a programme during my last few days on campus. It was about getting a marriage proposal before the month ended. I claimed it with so much faith and a few days later I had a very STUPID proposal from an acquaintance I was trying to lead to the Lord then. I would have fallen into the trap of a wrong relationship if I didn’t have the understanding that there are some men you don’t even pray about when it comes to marriage. For someone else, it would have been the ‘fulfilment’ of the prophecy, for me it was a manipulation from the pit of hell.

I never doubted the authenticity of those ministers because I understand that God has a time for everybody and prophecies spoken forth during a service or programme are not for everybody.  I was under another programme just after NYSC and there was a prophecy that someone would get a turnaround before the end of the first quarter of that year. I claimed that prophecy with the same enthusiastic faith I’d always used to claim prophecies. I finished my national service in February that year and I got a cream job before the end of March. But there were other people under the programme that evening that didn’t experience a ‘spectacular’ turnaround that season. God is still God and is yet for them. We only have to understand that no matter how many prophecies we key in to, God will do what He will do when it is beautiful in His eyes.

So, fellow yoke-bearers, I want to encourage you with the same encouragement I have been encouraged with. When you get a seeming answer to a prophecy you are holding on to, test it with the word of God and pray about it. Do not just rush for it as a fulfilment to the prophecy, it might not be. Of course, you have to pray prophecies forth into physical manifestation, but if after you have done all it doesn’t come at the expected time, hold on for His time. Rest on the Lord and trust Him. His plans and purposes will be realised in your life.

You should also know the Lord for yourself, as such, you can discern prophecies that are for you or not. Why, because prophecies are meant to confirm what you have received from the Lord yourself. And do not forget that all His beautiful promises are hinged on only one condition—pleasing Him. Is your life pleasing to Him? Are you sure He is pleased with you? I am writing to fellow yoke-bearers, to fellow little christs, to fellow Christians. Know that pleasing Him is not by power, He works in you to will and to do according to His good purpose. Tell Him to help you live a life that gives Him smiles. MARANATHA!

PS: You can join us to bear the yoke too. Sign up today through our Lord Jesus Christ. His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Matthew 11:28). Jesus loves you, He came to save you from your sins, to give you eternal life (salvation from eternal damnation) and to help you live an abundant life through thick and thin while on earth.