Expecting the Unexpected

February 7, 2021

Buckle Up!

I am always expectant that God is setting the stage for miraculous displays of His power and glory! In my previous attempts to bring clarity, I don’t want to give the impression that this season is not pivotal or spiritually historic, because I do believe that it is! I saw a meme the other day that said, “2020 went into a store and bought a wig and came back out as 2021!” All joking aside, 2021 seems to have the same shaking qualities that came with our entrance into this new decade! When things are shaking, they go up and down and from side-to-side often accompanied by rapid or forceful movement. That sounds about right, because everything does feel like it is being shaken!

Only the Lord shakes the heavens and the earth, “for the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” (Heb. 12:26-27) Hebrews 12 goes on to say that we are citizens of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, so that’s really good news for us, but since we live here in the midst of all the shaky things, I think it’s wisdom to buckle up! When I say buckle up, I don’t mean with trepidation or fear, I mean to position ourselves securely and safely with the hope that God is doing and will continue to do incredible things!

Truth vs. Lies

In this shaking season, we can expect that the prophetic stream will continue, so we need to be on our toes and pay careful attention to what we are hearing and sharing. We have already had a copious amount of Prophetic Words and predictions concerning our country, its leadership, and our future as a nation. I don’t think there has been a season, in my lifetime, where the Words have been flowing as fast and furious as they have been recently. Perhaps, just the fact that the internet makes it all so readily accessible is why it seems to be more abundant. At any rate, I’m not saying that we have had too many prophecies, I think the challenge has been, as I’ve heard from the hearts of many Believers, how do we sort out what is true?!

Just as my husband and I had stumbled upon the fact that bogus messages* were being circulated by those attempting to deceive and mislead, does not mean all the words and prophecies that were being given and distributed were false! I think a great many of them were/are true. Unfortunately, some who were forwarding and sharing the true messages were also inadvertently sharing messages that originated from these corrupt sources. This mixture definitely caused confusion which I’m sure was always the plan and the purpose of those fabrications anyway.

Verification

We are familiar with the quote, “with great privilege comes great responsibility.” I think it’s time to expand its meaning to include, “with unlimited internet access comes great responsibility!” We need to be extra vigilant to verify information before we pass it on and intentional to disconnect from questionable sources.

The day after the election, November 4, 2021, someone forwarded me a video message of a man telling us he was reporting from the war room. He said that President Trump had been anticipating election fraud, so he had all the ballots printed with a watermark for authenticity. He also reported that the National Guard troops were at election sites verifying these watermarked ballots as he was speaking!” When I first heard it, I remember thinking that it was a genius idea, but I began wondering why I was hearing this very important information from some obscure source and not a more reliable source like the White House Press Secretary or an official representative for the Trump Administration?!?!

I called a local election official who assured me that the message was a hoax, because each state prints their own ballots, and they are not printed by the federal government where the supposed watermark was allegedly applied. Also, the National Guard does not verify ballots nor had the Guard members been deployed to any election sites. It was factually impossible for that message to be true, and yet, I knew some folks that accepted it anyway, because that was what they wanted to be true.

Algorithm analyses have been completed by independent and government agencies on some of the sources of these chaotic messages. The evidence revealed that along with the classic disrupters who intended to share inflammatory and false information, there was also one group that was and still is participating in what they can only describe as a real-time, alternate reality, fantasy game and they continue to send out messages! Lord, help us!

Favorable Time to Grow

This hour is offering us a unique and unparalleled opportunity to sharpen our spiritual skill sets with greater intentionality and purpose. Words, predictions, and prophecies have to be weighed and judged. This is why I wrote in my last blog post about the Five-Fold Ministry Gifts and their significance to this process. They are not only concerned with prophecy and revelatory experiences, but they also pay attention to a Prophetic Word’s compliance with Biblical truth, the nature of God, the mission and destiny of the Church, etc. God put these safeguards in place to not only protect us from words that originate in deception and corruption, but these safeguards are also in place so that we can know and verify His TRUE Words! He has also given us His Holy Spirit for this very process of confirming truth! It is so valuable to confer with leadership and trusted friends as we weigh prophetic words etc., but we also want to guard against getting spiritually slack and letting others “do the heavy lifting for us.” The Bible invites us all to press in and hear it for ourselves! (Jer. 31:34, Heb 8:11)

Acts 10 - Expect the Unexpected

This week, I’ve been impressed by the Lord to meditate on Acts 10. This entire chapter is like an action movie preparation guide for the Harvest! Just when you get past the first exciting event, another one comes in right on its heels! I’ve often imagined what it must have been like for an observant Jew, like Peter, to have such a profound revelatory experience. An experience so intense and bizarre, that at first, it almost seemed contradictory to what he had been taught his entire life. And yet, with an authentic and vulnerable heart attitude, he not only interprets the message from the vision correctly, but he also applies it correctly by choosing to enter Cornelius’ house.

While Peter’s revelation is still fresh and while “he is STILL speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.” Peter does not even need to give the invitation because the Lord is so excited about the Harvest that He just speeds the whole thing up!!! This experience also blows-up their liturgy, because “...the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Gentiles...” before they were water-baptized! Nobody saw any of that coming!!

I feel like the Lord is saying that these unprecedented events of Acts 10 are a blueprint of sorts for what we have been experiencing, but also, what we are going to continue to experience in this decade! From Cornelius, who was shocked by his supernatural visitation, to Paul who’s revelatory encounter altered his theology, to the disciples who experienced signs and wonders that balanced their doctrine, and to the surprise converts who were added to the Body of Christ! Every single person in Acts 10 was propelled forward by their unexpected experiences! Buckle up, it is a season for us to expect the unexpected!

During these unprecedented times and during the shaking, our confidence is simply this: He is good and His mercy endures forever and not one Word that HE has spoken will return void or fall to the ground!

Blessings,

Joanne

*see 1st blog post, “Coming Out of the Fog” Part I