Haste and Zeal

“It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.” (Prov 19:2) The Lord led me to this scripture yesterday, and it seemed to resonate with something deep within me. We are finding that well-meaning teachers, preachers and evangelists are looking for quick results from our faith, and actions on our part that outwardly appear to demonstrate what we believe will happen. Those who proclaim what they believe will happen are lauded for prophetic proclamation, yet those who wait in quietness for the Lord to move are seen, at times, as lacking faith. Perhaps we expect faith to move mountains instantly, or bring sudden, powerful healing and other miracles. Yet, no matter how zealously we proclaim or how quickly we move forward in our beliefs, the power and timing of God rests with Him separate from our faith.

If we set aside what we think our faith should look like and what we think it should result in we find ourselves in front of a Sovereign God who holds all things in His hands. He is listening to our thoughts and prayers and will insert His answers into our lives in His time and His way. It is presumptuous of us to think anything else. We can only know God by following Him, and not by thinking He will follow us. Along this line of thinking, A month ago I was asked to paint prophetically in the New Year’s Eve service here in town. It was a meeting several churches would attend and I felt that it was important to seek the Lord for His message, for truly prophetic art always carries His heart to the people. To my surprise He gave me a dream with a solemn message, as copied below;

I was a speaker and a leader in the company I worked for. People gathered as I spoke against the insurance company who took our money but didn’t use it for our benefit. When I spoke, it was as if I were preaching. Then Star Wars music began playing, and played during the rest of the dream (the march of Darth Vadar). The scene shifted to a place where some of the younger generation were following me as we spied things out (looking into what the “enemy” was doing). At the first location, a young man went from behind me to in front of everyone. He took the lead and was somewhat belligerent to me, as if he thought I was too slow and careful, like his mother. He led us up to an enclosure that was our covering, and shook it as if to challenge any enemy that was present. I wanted to tell him not to do that, but he quickly led us to another location. There was no warfare in the first location.

At the second location the young man did the same thing after entering the enclosure that was our covering; he grabbed the canvas tent-like structure and shook it. It was as if he was inviting a confrontation between ourselves and our enemy. My view of the scene began to zoom out, taking in the setting we were in. The enclosure was set at the end of a long aisle in an out-door eating area, with long tables off the aisle on both sides. At the other end of the aisle was an assassin with a machine gun. (I had seen him in another dream before, and he was an assassin then also).
Again I was in the tent-like structure. I could see the assassin and what he was doing by looking over the heads of the young man, and a young woman. They both sat casually in front of a window in the tent. I saw the assassin raise a machine gun and aim it directly at them, and fire. Before he pulled the trigger I said “duck” and crouched down behind a picnic cooler. But no one had enough time to duck and I feared they had been hit when the man started firing. The girl and young man could be plainly seen through the window and were an easy target for him.

Since there was no protection in the tent I slid on my belly (as if I was in combat) and went to my left, under a table. I was hoping to crawl away from the whole area. The gun man was no longer at the end of the aisle, and I could see his legs plainly at the far end of the table I was under. Though I had no protection and he could have seen me if he bent down and looked, there were people seated at every chair, and at every table. I hoped he wouldn’t find me. It almost seemed as if the seated people were trying to be good, and were quiet so as not to antagonize the gun man. They were all older than me, and silent. I hoped none would give my location away. I thought that anyone of us could have stopped the assassin, if we had a weapon. But no one had a weapon except the assassin, and he was very quick and cunning. End of dream.

Here is the interpretation;
Business I work for = God’s kingdom
Insurance company I complained about = some ministers and churches which hold the talents (money) of Christians yet do not see that those saints are ministered to nor train them in the use of their talents
Me speaking/preaching = bringing to light the wrongful taking away of our talents/money
Star Wars music = marks the beginning of spiritual warfare in this dream
Younger Generation = seeking to overcome their enemy and get back what is theirs yet they are impulsive and hasty, and a bit condescending
Younger man = grew impatient, insolent, thought he knew better than his parent’s generation
Tent/covering = not the “strong tower” we are told to run to in the Bible (Ps 61:3; Prov 18:10). Flimsy, and offers no protection. Is a man-made structure. Could represent teachings and beliefs that seem strong but aren’t grounded in sound doctrine.
Assassin – satan. He kills, steals, and destroys. He is much more cunning than the impulsive actions which the young man thought demonstrated his faith.
Shot down = because we were not in a strong tower, which is God and His name (Ps 61:3; 144:2 and Prov 18:10), we were vulnerable. As an example, in reality, I have known young people who were involved in extreme sports for Jesus but never got good discipleship training . . . and now one of them is gay, an alcoholic, and is anorexic. She came to mind during prayer about this dream.
Picnic cooler = the older generation was having a picnic instead of dealing with their enemy
Older generation = “silent majority”. Captives of the enemy, though Christians. Ineffective against the enemy, and silent against wrong-doing/teaching.
Weapon = the Word of God. Also, Jesus asks the Father to protect us by the power of His name, the name the Father gave Him (Jn 17:11). In Rev 19:13 we read that Jesus’ name is “The Word of God”, and He writes that name on us when we overcome (Rev 3:12) as the church in Philadelphia was instructed to; “hold fast to what you have so that no one will take your crown.” (vs 11). It seems that, in this dream, the silent majority had abdicated to satan, and so became ineffective. They had no weapon (God’s Word) and could not save themselves nor anyone else.

I do not often share my prophetic dreams with the public, but since this one came as an answer to my prayer for a message for 2011 I feel the weight of God’s heart and how important this message is to Him. Over the following few days He gave me 4 more dreams, detailing some of the problems that will cause us to fail. I will share them in the next few days.

Let us encourage each other in our faith, and not fret over God’s timing nor the appearance of His works which we partner with Him for. He is faithful and will perform His Word. When the pressures of life and our enemy assail us with doubts, let us run to the Strong Tower, Jesus as the Word of God, and stand in the strength found there. Amen.