Daily PresenceНамуна

Many years ago I was attending a conference at a church when my friend asked if he could introduce me to the pastor. Taking him up on the offer, I was guided to the side of the stage to wait behind several people already talking with him. Once my turn came he asked me, ‘What has God laid on your heart?” I said, “Doing something significant for him.” He placed both his hands on my shoulders and began to pray, “Lord, one day you are going to use this man to start a church filled with audacious faith. I pray you would touch his life, anoint him, and do the work.” When he finished I was like, “Hmmmm. We’ll see.”

Fast-forward twenty years later and I can see how significant that moment was for me. It was a prophetic moment when God was speaking through someone to give me a promise He intended for me. It means so much more to me after the fulfillment than before.

Scripture is filled with over 2500 prophecies, 2000 of which have already been fulfilled, with 500 remaining for the end times, over the span of thousands of years. Of those 2000 fulfilled, most scholars point to Micah 5:2 as being one of the most significant:“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.”

Incredible! 700 years before Jesus is born in the unassuming town of Bethlehem Micah is declaring on behalf of God exactly that. As the phrase goes, “You can’t make this stuff up.”

The prophecy itself is mind-blowing. But the timing, context, and circumstances surrounding it make it another testimony of the grace, care, and provision of our God for His people when everything looks like it’s falling apart.

Prophecy, Micah 5:2, and all the other prophecies of Scripture should give us confidence that our God is who He says He is, does what He says He’ll do, and knows what the future holds. May the worries of our lives be minimized by the prophetic promises of God to care for us. He’s done it, and what He hasn’t done you can rest assured He will when the timing is right. The whole world is in His hands!