PROPHECY: SEEING AND DECLARING

Here is a basic definition of prophecy: seeing and declaring God’s perspective.

Prophecy starts with knowing God’s perspective. But God says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways” (Isaiah 55:8). This means if you or I see something from God’s perspective, it’s only because He has opened our blind eyes (2 Corinthians 4:4) and given us a spirit of revelation to know Him (Ephesians 1:17). And that’s designed to keep us humble; otherwise, we’d be so full of ourselves for “seeing God’s perspective” that we’d scarcely have any room left for His perspective in our lives.

But prophecy is not complete without some form of declaration or proclamation of what you have seen. And often, it’s not popular, which makes sense since something popular is liked, admired, or enjoyed by humankind in general—and God’s not a human.

These days, it’s popular to say, “Somalia is a hopeless situation.” It’s less popular to say, “Even if Somalia is hopeless, we should still try to help.” It’s anti-popular to say, “Because God loves Somalis and Somalia, I am going there.”

Things are this way because most of Somalia is controlled by competing guns. Whether wielded by government forces, Islamic militias, or neighborhood kids, the guns thunder only chaos and destruction, never the promised peace. Violence is as regular as it is unpredictable, which means the only thing you can count on is a daily game of Russian roulette with death. It’s not hard to understand why people say, “Leave Somalia to the Somalis… We will come back in maybe fifty years when they want to settle their problems.”

But Christians cannot wait for things to get better in Somalia before going there. If we do, we will forfeit a perfect opportunity to proclaim Christ. Think about this: God didn’t wait for you to get your life together before He demonstrated His love for you. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God’s love is amazing because He loves His enemies and has proved it by Christ’s living with them, serving them, and then dying at their hands.

It wasn’t safe for Jesus to love you; it was deadly. And Jesus isn’t bluffing when He commands Christians to “love our enemies” (Matthew 5:44). He knows exactly what He’s asking of us. Where are the prophets who will stand up to the popular idea of safety and call God’s people to safety in the arms of Jesus, whether in life or death? The stage is set in shattered Somalia. Somalis are watching as the curtain rises. God forbid that the Bride of Christ misses her cue.

LIVE DEAD CHALLENGE

One way to engage in the act of prophecy is to submit to the Lord’s dealings in your own life. As God shows you His perspective about something in your life, you can pray, “God, change me, and change the hearts of these unreached people in the same way you are changing me.” That’s a prophetic prayer. Is this whole Live Dead challenge really difficult for you? Do you feel resistance to it in your heart? Are you scared of failing?

Here is a prophecy to you: “While we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6).

UNREACHED PEOPLE GROUP: BEJA

The Beja are a nomadic people that roam the deserts of northeastern Sudan. They love their camels and coffee and are known to be fierce competitors. The Beja number more than a million persons combined in Sudan, Egypt, and Eritrea. Every time you drink a coffee, would you remember to pray for the Beja? Pray that they would become fiercely loyal to the Lord of angel armies; pray that they would become brave representatives of the King.