Last month I contacted an area church about joining their prophetic team. The leaders instructed me to listen to a series by their pastor regarding the prophetic. In one sermon, the directive for listeners was to observe people and listen intently for God to give insight. I went to work and listened for something for residents who live across the street from my site. I heard "hope". I was certain that it was just me. Maybe my brain is fixed on President Obama or something. It turns out that it was from the Lord after all. In another sermon of the series, the pastor said that "a timely word of God is the cure for hopelessness... it is the fuel for hope needed to stand".
God is training me to give timely words, prophetic words, in order to fuel hope in the community. I have always believed that the negative health and social outcomes observed in communities across this country not only stem from systematic and institutional obstacles but also from the loss of our chutzpah. (See that, I threw in some Yiddish there. Thank you Brooklyn!) We have lost hope in achieving more; we have lost the sight to see ourselves beyond poverty, STD infection, and abuse. What's new is that I now understand that God intends for us to reclaim our chutzpah. By equipping sons and daughters to encourage and comfort through prophecy, He is giving our global community permission to stand in the midst of trials in order to move forward in claiming victory.
We yearn for that, don't we? I understand why President Obama's 2008 campaign resonated with so many people. We yearn for hope; our souls know that it never fails.
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