If you are at all anointed in the prophetic, then you know what I'm talking about. The prophet Ezekiel is probably the poster child for knowing when to be quiet and listen, and when to speak what he's been told. His assignment from the Lord was clearly understood (I'm paraphrasing here): I've made you a watchman over Israel. So hear what I tell you and warn them, according to My Word. When I give you a warning for them, that their wicked ways will lead to death, and you don't share that warning with them, then they [and their generations] will die in their iniquity. But it will be your fault [for not warning them] and I will hold you responsible. Yet if you have given them My warning, and they continue in their sin and iniquity, they will die, but you will have saved your life.
That's a pretty heavy responsibility. Ezekiel was to be faithful and obedient in speaking God's warnings to men, and therefore be innocent of the blood of all men. But guess what? God still hands out that assignment, and those who receive it today also carry that weighty and demanding responsibility. The components of that responsibility are to know when to speak and when to remain silent. And that can be a burdensome decision.
Let me share just one of my experiences. The season in which God began speaking to me in my spirit was not only new and unprecedented, but a time of deep concern. I had no "credentials" in the Church; nor any reputation or standing that gave anyone reason to believe that what I said came from the Lord. Therefore, this new assignment came with great risk to me, personally. But I was being shaken to my core with the understanding that God was showing me something that He wanted shared with specific groups in the Body of Christ, and He wanted to use me.
I will never forget the first time that I was presented with a testimony from someone who had acted on what I had shared regarding His call to an Inner Healing ministry for me and my husband. Her testimony of how God had acted in her life through my sharing the knowledge He had given me [and which applied specifically to her] was earth-shattering. But I had no fear in taking that step; it was something between me and her, and I knew she was ready to receive it. But when God then told me [through a word from the Holy Spirit] that I needed to share her testimony with a women's class at a local church, I admit that I tried to convince the Spirit that it wasn't a good idea. In fact, I begged Him to relieve me of that assignment. But I clearly heard, "They need to hear this Word because things are going to soon change in the world and My People need to prepare for the spiritual battle that's coming against the culture, the nation, and their lives".
I went in the spirit realm for a couple of minutes, leaving behind my consciousness of what was going on in the class, all in a gentle attempt to persuade the Holy Spirit that we should postpone the testimony. But it became perfectly clear that I had a choice ... speak God's Truth in this situation, or leave these women without benefit of His warning and the blessing of hearing a transformative testimony. I said a quick prayer, and timidly spoke up .... "If I could have a couple of minutes, I'd like to share ....".
Let me just say that it has taken nearly 9 years to begin to see the fruit of that challenge Holy Spirit gave me. I did share the unusual and unorthodox testimony of the woman who, in her own words, said "There are so many things I could share [after you ministered to me] ... so much happening ... so much the Lord is showing me! Every single day there is some new revelation about so many things... How privileged we are to be alive today!! That doesn't mean I'm looking forward to what's coming, but it does mean I'm excited to see what God is going to do"!!!
While all that sounds positive and encouraging, the group of women did not see it that way. What I shared pointed out the evil that is going on under the nose of the Church and how it would continue to grow and subvert our nation unless the Body of Christ understood that Spiritual Warfare was real and heeded the warning from the Lord to engage in the battle with God and His heavenly army. Those years of being ostracized and criticized while wondering if I was correctly hearing from the Lord wasn't fun, but I never doubted that this was just a season in which the Lord was preparing me for even greater spiritual battles. Don't get me wrong -- there have been many victories in the ensuing years, even as my husband and I are seeing the rapid increase in the Evil in the world. There is never a doubt about whether we will speak when commanded [and we take the time to discern if we've truly heard His voice]. We take our responsibility very seriously.
At the same time, the Lord has taught us when to remain silent. When we are alerted that He wants to speak to us, we reverently wait before Him, silent in His presence, so that we can rightly discern His instructions. We also remain silent if it is not abundantly clear what our assignment is. Without all the knowledge we need of God's commandment [in order to carry it out correctly], we will not take it upon ourselves to speculate or play theological roulette. We don't try to assume God's thoughts or put our spin on it. We wait, silently and patiently, until we receive His clear mandate.
I will also say that it is becoming increasingly difficult to be the one to share God's message in this season -- because we are living in a season that, for lack of better words, seems completely divergent and perverse... "out of season", if you will. As far as Christianity goes, we are living in a time in which we can't even recognize our culture or understand what it believes or thinks. The world truly seems upside down. I don't know if this will make sense to you or not, but the website Harbinger's Daily recently quoted American philosopher Allan Bloom, who 30 years ago said we were experiencing "the closing of the American mind". It's not hard to determine that those with "eyes to see" and "ears to hear" are closing their minds to the warnings God is giving through His messengers, the watchmen. We, who are dedicated to speaking His warnings, are castigated by the mainstream Church who only wants to receive words of good tidings and revival. But would you rather be in trouble with men ... or with God, for remaining silent, when He has told us to speak? It is actually a matter of sinning or not!
We must recognize that the words God gives us and the words we speak [or don't speak] have eternal consequences. The world may be at war with God and our assignments, but we who step up to fulfill our assignments know that we must obey God and have no choice but to speak. And we are willing to take all the slings and arrows from the civilization of men, if it means lives will be saved for all Eternity.
Isaiah 55:11 So shall My Word be which goes out of My mouth; it will not return to me void [useless, without result] without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
