By Jeremy Lopez
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Learning to hear from God, especially prophetically, is not easy. In fact, there is much abuse that is even not understood. But it's worth the price, to get closer to Him, but it's also hard.
I have a friend who was seeking God about a business deal that he needed. He had a company going and it was blessed, but to do more, he needed quite a bit more money. He really had the strong desire to do more.
He found a friend who was willing to go in on it, but the friend did not really have the zeal he did. For my friend, this was all for the Lord, but for the friend, it was a convenient investment, and more for secular reasons.
But they got along and had some fun together and talked the options. My friend went to the Lord over it and fasted and prayed to get an answer from the Lord on what to do. After seeking, he heard a one-word answer: "Compromise."
Now this is something you can take, as a word, that means good or bad. My friend was puzzled a bit but felt like he could take the risk. It would just take some compromise! So, he went into the deal.
Things were never great, but they were good for a season. But then the business partner started slacking off, because it wasn't "all that" for him. It was good and with a pep talk, he could get inspired, but soon after slacked off again. This happened repeatedly.
After some time, my friend became discouraged and unhappy over it and gave it that "old college try" a number of times more. On their public face they looked good, but behind the scenes, they were both becoming unhappy.
It now looked like, at the expense of the business, they were going to have to part ways in this. It just wasn't going where the vision was supposed to take them.
My friend came to me, this was some time back, and asked what I thought. It just popped out of me, "I don't think it was the Lord at all." He became offended, but my intent was not to hurt him. Then I felt bad because my friend was hurt. Didn't I know this was for the Lord???
I knew he was struggling, and he came to me for another word later, and it seemed I helped, but then that faded, and I seemed resented, and so I just backed off. I appreciate a good friend, but not everyone walks in full understanding, even me!
I had tried to explain, because I was in the words of Scripture enough to know how God talks, and he just did not understand the way God talks as much as I did. For me, it is my calling, it is a requirement, and my friend did what he felt was supposed to do for his.
Is it wrong to be in business? Obviously not! The Body is made up of many parts and we all NEED each other, and God set things up so that if people will DO what they are supposed to do, it will all work together well.
Learning to Hear
I felt sorry for my friend because he was obviously getting distressed over this, but God didn't want his trust in me more than He wanted it in Him. He wanted him to learn how TO HEAR.
God's sheep hear His Voice, but too many called Christians really don't. They go to ministers like pastors, if they can get an appointment, or they go to fellow believers. Some are studious, some not, or if they are around the prophetic, they will go there, but a lot of those are not really that mature in life or are rare. If we ever do get the conversation going with God though, it is hard to stop! Even if sometimes we talk more than He does.
America today is in a crisis, and it is a famine for HEARING the Voice of God. So, since His Voice is not heard, or heard well, we go into our own minds instead of seeking and finding. Ask, Seek, Knock, remember that?
I was thinking about this earlier today and I thought, he missed it because he thought he should be willing to compromise, when really God was saying the exact opposite. To him, he was laying his life down, but he didn't have enough good teaching to discern that. I have also been naive.
I thought, if God had said the one word, "Cheat" or "Lies" or "Unfaithful" or "Cruel" or "Indifferent", would he have heard the right direction then? Instead of believing for the finances to come in, he worked a deal.
It's not easy for any of us to lay down our lives and crush our souls for the greater will of God. When our soul is crushed, all pride leaves. We are striving to hear more, and better, and we don't have time to hear us because we are wanting to hear Him!
Did God leave my friend? No, of course not, but he is more humble today. One little anecdote that really makes me laugh, that I heard a long time ago is: "Did you hear about the man that was so humble that they gave him a button, but they took it back when he wore it." Painful humor in that! That is how sneaky pride can be.
But what I am really sharing here is not a story about a person but about our relationship with God. God is our God more than He is our "Pal" or our "good Buddy." He is a learning thing, and we are in this together!
The Church (Body at large) has gotten so far off that I wonder if we can and will get back on the rails. We are taught "charmed" and "favored" and "special" and "better than others" and "God's favorite" when we are anything but! Ego is not humility.
Growing and Maturing into a Richer Life
Does He love us? Of course! He laid down His life for us, as our example, but today we are like the rich person who thinks they have need of nothing, but are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and uncovered!
We are taught to look good to the world who could care less about us! Have you noticed??? Back stabbers are everywhere in the "name" of nice!
And you know what? You CAN look good to the world but carry His Spirit. There are a lot of good shows, and what they used to call "snake oil salesmen" who take your money and give you inferior goods, but oh they have a story! And some are really just working to find their way!
But IS IT GOD'S will? This story about my friend hurts me because of the pain he has endured, but God is trying to reach him with the greater things. Yes, he will have to forgive, not just his unfaithful friend, but also himself. What GOD wants for him is a better relationship with Him and it will not steal from him.
In the Lord we have power, but like electricity, if it is not in the proper boundaries, it can cause much damage and even loss of life. I wish good preachers were a dime a dozen, but they are not. They can be rare and go about unappreciated, EXCEPT for knowing Him.
Yes, sometimes it can seem "too hard" and for sure "too slow" but do you want to eat a half-cooked meal, or fully cooked and healthy tasty one? Patience! Probably the hardest to learn but with the best benefits.
Sometimes we have to act fast and sometimes we do need to wait. That wisdom is learned. Life has a way of dealing with all of us. Those young hot shots later learn that they are not superior to their elders just because they are healthier and stronger, and think they are smarter. We need each other!
The most shrewd one of all is God. 2 Samuel 22:27 - "With the pure You will show Yourself pure; And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd." We need a teachable spirit, and we need those teachers that we can appreciate and learn from and respond properly to. But the greatest Teacher is God, and He wants us all to come to Him and "Hear Him!" as the Father said on the Mount of Transfiguration. (Matthew 17:5)
It is important to know that God is not trying to limit us but grow us and mature us in a way that leads to a much richer life. He who wins souls is wise, and when we connect with the true Body in the right and good ways, we are satisfied. We may be after "things," but He is after our relationship.
Pam Clark
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