Useful Prophets

Last week I had a dream in which I was standing among mountains, waiting to catch a plane out of the area. I saw a small jet plane come in and try to land, but the wind was so rough that it got blown off course and had to go round and try again.

When the plane came in for the second attempt, it was hit by an enormous gust of wind that flipped it round, so it was flying the opposite way. As it was being tossed around, the fuselage twisted and seemed to bend. It dropped from sight behind the mountain and I thought it was a goner. However it came and into sight again and flew in from the opposite direction and landed safely on a runway further away from the mountain ridge.

In my dream, I then saw a crowd sitting on wooden tiered seating (bleachers). They had gathered to watch the plane land, but they saw nothing from where they were sitting.

The crowd in the dream reminded me of the church. Important changes are taking all around, but the church is sitting on the side-lines irrelevant, waiting to see what will happen.

Plenty of prophets are warning of difficult times ahead, but you do not have to be a prophet to do that. Anyone with their eyes open can see that the world phases many problems.

Warning of trouble is only a minor part of the prophetic role. The more important and difficult role of the prophet is to prepare God’s people to remain strong through the times of distress and to be victorious out the other side.

Prophets should be telling God’s people what to do, so they will be ready when troubles come. They should be explaining how Christians can remain strong while the world is crumbling and weak. They should explain how Christians would be able to reach out to the people of the world who are struggling and draw them into a place of safety. They should be telling them how to started building the new thing that God want to establish in the middle of the world’s troubles.

We do not need more prophets warning of political and economic disasters. We need prophets who can prepare Gods people how to survive through the difficult times and deliver a new thing after the times of distress run their course.