In the garden the serpent asked “Did God really say...?” (Genesis 3:1) and that’s a question satan keeps asking us today. It is so easy for us to forget the promise God has spoken to us. They are like to seed that falls in the rocky ground:
The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. Matthew 13:20-21 (New Living Translation)
As soon as problems come, the joy of the seed that’s planted is forgotten. You and I need to remember the prophetic promises given to us.
I don’t want to say, “I have 5 steps for you.” because these steps are fluid and not always in the order that we’ll see in the portion of Scripture where I’m going to draw them out. Let’s call them “points.”
And it’s not that you evaluate once in your life and you’re onto something else. Every time you have a transition, a change or a new adventure you may need to go through this process.
Also, I haven’t been able to find a timeline for these points. Sometimes I go through them in an afternoon, other times it takes me years. But there is wisdom in knowing the process of stewarding a prophetic word. Let’s see how a woman who had nothing but problems did it.
2 Kings 4:1-7 - Elisha and the Widows OilThe wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”
Here’s what I’ve picked up from this story about stewarding a prophetic word.