Hello friends!
We are officially in our 6th location, which is DE which is getting so close to NY I can almost taste it. *cries a little bit*
But today I want to tell you a story from about 3 locations ago when we were in Memphis. Remember how I said that before I launched in January I felt like the Lord was telling me to get to be more uncomfortable in the prophetic? Well hold onto that thought and let’s go.
So while we were in Memphis, we were getting a 3-day teaching on evangelism and prophecy and how to use them together. Prophetic evangelism, if you will. So we usually had a teaching in the morning, and then in the afternoon we would put what we learned into practice and go evangelize at a mall. So this was our last day, and we were learning about the prophetic. The day before (day 2 of teaching) our teacher told us to be praying up for our day 3 outreach in the afternoon; specifically for the Lord to give us prophetic words for whoever we came across. So I got up on the morning of day 3 to have my quiet time with the Lord. I was praying about what the afternoon would hold, and I felt like the Lord took me to the story of the woman at the well in John 4, specifically verse 29 “He told me everything I ever did” and for some reason, I interpreted that as: “I’m going to call someone out on something. I’m going to get punched in the face today.”
So I packed my spare glasses to take to outreach. (just in case)
Anyway. We have our teaching in the morning on prophecy and how to hear the voice of the Lord with more confidence, and it was wonderful. We had lunch and then we left for prophetic evangelism at the mall. We broke up into teams, and I’m with my teammate Delaney (check her out at www.delaneybronosky.theworldrace.org) and our logistics coordinator Ryan. We took a few minutes to pray about where the Lord would like to go/who He wants us to look for.
I felt like the Lord brought to my mind a picture of black, shiny mannequins dressed like an outdoors store. Which I thought was interesting because there was no sporting goods store in this mall. (I’d been hanging out there for 3 days, I knew for a FACT that there is no sporting goods store, but ok God, whatever). So I told Delaney and Ryan that we needed to find a store with black shiny mannequins (I left out the outdoors part because #irrelevent. Or so I thought).
So we’re walking through the mall trying to find these black shiny mannequins, when we start walking past this jewelry store, and Ryan says “Wait. I feel like I’m supposed to share the gospel with this girl.” (the woman working at the register). So we stop a minute, and while Ryan prepares to walk in and share the gospel, Delaney says “Look I found the mannequins!!!” and sure enough in the store NEXT to the jewelry store, there are 4 or 5 black, shiny mannequins. Found em. It was not a sporting goods store, nor were they dressed outdoorsy, but they were the ones. I knew it. But first, Ryan has to share the gospel with this girl so we go into the jewelry store and start a conversation.
Ryan shares the gospel, and it’s beautiful. She is receptive and talks a little about how her brother is very spiritual (*cough* a psychic) and how her mom still goes to church, and what she knows about Jesus. Meanwhile, I’m thinking to myself “Just let us pray for you or whatever so I can go to the store with the black mannequins, ok” and I got a Holy Spirit nudge to think for one second.
The girl is wearing a camo jacket. My heart stopped. We found the shiny black mannequins, and she was wearing an outdoorsy jacket.
I found who I needed to find.
Which brings us to this fun little conversation between me and the Almighty:
Me: Lord. What do you want me to say to her?
The Lord: Tell her to break up with her boyfriend.
Me: …
Me: …
Me: Um. Hey Lord, I don’t want to say that.
AND THE LORD WOULD NOT LET IT GO.
Can you BELIEVE the audacity of the Lord not respecting my comfortable boundaries???
So finally I said: Fine. Ok Lord, I trust You.
And I turned to the woman (we’ll call her J) and had this conversation:
Me: Hey J, do you have an boyfriend or significant other?
J: Yeah I do.
Me: *swallows* I feel like the Lord wants me to tell you to break up with him, he’s not good for you and he pulls you away from the Lord.
J: *looks shocked* No way! I got a spiritual reading last week and they told me the exact same thing.
(by spiritual reading she meant palm/psychic reading, but if even demonic spirits are telling you to break up with someone, maybe you should)
So we talked about her boyfriend for a bit. They’d been together about a year, they’d lived together but not anymore, and honestly he wasn’t a great guy. She didn’t want to throw away all the memories and time she’d spent with him. She also said he had problems with “being faithful” to which I said “he cheats on you” (not as a question; as a fact because the Lord dropped that lil word of knowledge into my brain) and she was like “I don’t think it’s anything physical, but he does talk to other women.” And I thought to myself “girl he is literally having sex with other women you need to break up with his lying cheating butt.*”
*language adjusted because this is a family show
Then I felt the Lord leading the conversation to talk about her worth, and how she viewed herself. Delaney shared from her personal testimony, and it really spoke to J. Then Delaney said: “I just really feel like we should pray a re-dedication prayer” and explained what that was, and then looked at Ryan to see if that was ok, and Ryan was like “of course!” and then Delaney asked if we could lay hands on her, and J said yes, and we got ready to pray and I was like “YAS Delaney get it!!! Let’s pray this salvation prayer!”
Then Delaney puts her hand on MY shoulder and says: “Ok Susan, you lead it.” And my brain short-circuited for a second because, ya’ll. I HAVE NEVER LED A SALVATION PRAYER. IN. MY. LIFE.
Which is actually hella embarrassing because I’m 27 and love ministry and also been walking with the Lord since I was like 3. But there’s a first time for everything.
So I thought “wow thanks Delaney.” and then I thought: “Alright Lord. Let’s do this.” And we prayed salvation over J. She cried, she said she felt so much peace, we talked with her a little more, and I gave her my number if she had questions or wanted to talk. And then we left.
Y’all it was a m a z i n g.
We got back home that night, and I was unpacking my lil day bag and I pulled out my… extra pair of… glasses??? And then I cracked up for 5 minutes because I forgot I had packed them because I was so sure I was getting punched in the face. But calling someone out wasn’t what Jesus wanted me to take away from the story in John 4; it was how He did it. The gentle, no condemnation, stating-a-fact way He did to show that God was really working in the Samaritan woman’s life. “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” // John 4:39 (NIV)
And then I started thinking about being uncomfortable and stretched in the prophetic, and how sometimes you have to say hard things to someone to prove that the Holy Spirit really knows what’s up, and God is chasing them down, and Jesus really knows all the hard stuff in our lives, and He really loves us anyway, and do I really want to get in the way of someone else’s salvation journey because I’m scared of looking stupid, or being uncomfortable?
I have a tattoo that just says “faith courage” on my arm. I got it from Jeremiah 1:7, “But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.” I wanted faith to know His voice and believe what He was telling me to do, and the courage to actually do it. See, years ago I permanently had etched onto my body that I would go to whoever He sent me to, and say whatever He wanted me to say. So even though I thought I was going to be punched in the face (Praise God I wasn’t), or I was feeling uncomfortable, I still need to do what He says. Jeremiah 1:8 goes on to say “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.”
If every time the Lord tells me to do/say something I don’t want to, and I don’t do it, I will not see growth in myself. I will stay stunted and fearful, untrusting, leaving my potential for kingdom work untapped and dusty. If I had said, “Hey Lord, I don’t want to say that” about J and not said the uncomfortable thing He told me to say, the kingdom wouldn’t have been expanded and a prodigal wouldn’t have come home.
Friends. We can’t live our lives out of a place of fear of feeling awkward or uncomfortable and still see revival in our nation. So I will leave you with my other favorite part of Jeremiah 1:
“Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.”
// Jeremiah 1:17-19 (NIV) //
Let’s see revival together.
(Also there’s still plenty of time for me to get punched in the face, so stay tuned)
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