It's hard to believe that Training Camp for the World Race ended almost six weeks ago. We're halfway through August now and every once in a while, I see updates from B Sqaud like "54 Days to go!" Slowly, slowly, we're ticking the days away as though they were petals we're pulling off daisies. The time is going by so quickly.
While we were in Tennessee, one of the topics that my team seemed to be talking over constantly was that of spiritual gifts, especially prophecy. To be honest, I was–and am, to a point–very skeptical about prophecy and it's validity in my life. My father likes to say that every bush is a burning bush if you're looking for a fire, meaning that you're going to see signs everywhere if you go looking for one. The LORD is, I think, teaching me to hear HIS voice when He speaks, instead of manufacturing it on my own. It's hard because I don't necessarily trust the images and words I think He's giving me. I want to test everything, make Him give me proof that what I see is of Him.
Case in point: A dear friend of mine has been looking for a place to live in Fort Collins for several months now. It's a notoriously difficult housing market here now. Needless to say, it's been really frustrating and a definite testing point between her and the LORD. She's handled this trial with more grace and perseverence than I would have, given the circumstances. About a month ago, I went with her to several house showings. After a few hours of disappointing appointments, we decided to wander through the Old Town sector of Fort Collins and just ask the LORD to lead us to her house.
While we were praying, I got a really clear picture (I dont know if I can say "vision" yet…) of a boxy two story brick house on Mountain Ave. I didn't trust myself to say anything (who knew if I was just doing some imaginative wishful thinking) but I wrote down the image and told her that I would show her what it said when she signed a lease.
To be honest, there are dozens, if not hundreds, of brick two-stories in Old Town. Besides, my friend's favorite street in Fort Collins is Mountain Avenue. It wasn't so hard for me to imagine that I'd just put together the absolute most perfect place for her in my mind and just translated that on paper. The rent on Mountain Avenue is typically far outside the realm that any recent college graduate could afford. Houses start selling at a quarter-mil down there. No way was this "vision" from the LORD. It just wasn't possible.
We didn't find her house that day, or the next, or even the next. She got discouraged. I felt like an idiot for believing that the LORD would give me (ME!) a vision of anything, let alone something that would come true. She skipped a few house showings. I threw the paper with my vision on it in the trash.
And then the realtor for one of her skipped showings called. The realtor hadn't been able to rent this particular house yet. They'd lowered the rent, then decided to include utilities in the asking price. My friend set up a time to see the house. We both knew that if she didn't find a place by the end of the month, she was leaving Fort Collins for good.
I couldn't see the house at first for the trees in front of it, but as the realtor led us around the side to the back door, I started laughing. It was instantaneously clear to me that this was her house. The house, a boxy, brick two-story on Mountain Avenue, was available for renters immediately. All the realtor needed to do was clean the carpets.
My friend moved in a week later.
"Do not quench the Spirit. 20Do not despise prophecies, 21but test everything; hold fast what is good. 22Abstain from every form of evil." 1st Thessalonians 5 : 19-22
