We are getting ready to welcome another group of students to the Bible school. It’s an exciting time of the year. The staff will gather together and pray for the students as we listen in for God’s word over each and every one of them. It’s nice getting to know them as they really are, before we actually meet them.
The students come with many questions. I love that about them! However, one is more frequent than the others. We are in for another year of “But I just want to know God’s plan for my life!”
I get it, I really do. I love their passion, the commitment, the earnest longing for more of God. They all have callings over their life. The most important one is to love God and to love man. They are called to the ministry of reconciliation. To do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly.
What does God’s family look like?
Some of them will be preachers, pastors and evangelists. Others will be teachers, politicians, and CEOs. Some will lead worship and keep the flames of intercession burning, while others will be craftsmen and artists. Some will be missionaries, apostles, and prophets, taking the Gospel to the ends of the world, while others were born to be entrepreneurs, advisors, inventors, or designers.
It’s all good. We want to see them grow in their calling as we train them to flow in their gifting as part of a community. There are no solo acts in the Kingdom. We are part of God’s family and that is how we grow in our gifting.
There’s nothing wrong with searching for God’s plan for your life. We all do. But sometimes we get so focused on our individual growth that we forget that we are a part of something greater than ourselves.
The prophetic is about searching for the gold that God has deposited in other people. It’s looking into their heart through the eyes of the Father and calling forth their God-given potential.
Sometimes we call forth what God has hidden for the world and the individual to see. And then, when the time is right, we are told to speak growth to the seed that the Lord planted in the heart of man.
Other times, we speak out things that may have been in plain sight for everybody. And still, God wants to highlight it; to tell you that “Hey! I did that! The gifting that you flow in – that was a gift from me!”
The daily labor of love
This week I prophesied over a man. I knew that he was a teacher and that he was very kind, but that was about it. I started seeing pictures that didn’t make much sense to me, but I felt the presence of God on it, so I moved forward. “Right… so I see you fishing. You catch a fish, but as you turn around, that one fish turns into four. … I see you turn a key, and as you turn that one key in one lock, four locks are opened.”
He just smiled.
“Does this make any sense to you?” I enquired.
“Absolutely!” he grinned, explaining that he was a special ed teacher. “I always teach groups of four. As I explain something to one, I’m hoping that the other three get it, too.”
Yeah. I think God just told you that they do.
Within seconds, God had just shown him how he looks upon the daily labor of this man who faithfully steward his calling as a teacher and shepherd. It’s like he said, “I like teaching with you! You teach the one, and I’ll make sure the other three get the revelation, too!”
A word goes out intended for the one, but four locks are opened.
I love how God speaks into our lives. I love when we get a glimpse of our lives through his eyes.
We are all ministers.
We are family.
If you succeed, I will celebrate your victory as my own.
I saw this picture on social media. I don’t know where it came from, but I love it.
We belong together.
I bless your ministry as you serve as a teacher, a bus driver, a waiter, a CEO, a fisherman, chef, a pastor, a stay-at-home mom, a coach, a construction worker, a nanny, a garbage truck driver, a window cleaner, a financial advisor, or however you serve. I bless you.
I bless you who are at home due to illness or handicap, or who are admitted in the hospital. I bless your rest, your longing, and your intercession.
I bless you who work in the church. In the mission field. As part of an organization. In a Bible school or seminary. I bless your heart for the one.
This is God’s plan for your life:
That you will always depend on him no matter where you are or what you do. He’ll tell you the rest. When he wants to. When you’re ready to hear it.
For now, look out for whatever he has deposited in your heart. Tend to it and make sure it has good soil. Then watch it grow.