Two Visions One Service

You never know what to expect when you go to church, other than to meet God there, right?

And this Sunday was no different.

Have you ever been given a vision that you didn’t create in your mind yourself?

That you know could only be from God?

Yeah, me either…until Sunday.

I have never been one to see things in the supernatural and pray for people from that place. I’ve experienced those types of prayers, seen others pray in that manner, and listened to pastors speak in the prophetic, but never personally experienced it until two days ago.

At church, Pastor Alex felt that there were many in the room carrying burdens and asked those struggling to raise their hands.

I was sitting next to a friend who I know has been going through an incredibly difficult season and figured he would immediately raise his hand, which he did.

I know some of his story, but the same can not be said for the young man right in front of me who also raised his hand.

I’ve never seen him or met him, just happened to be sitting right behind him.

Pastor Alex’s asked us to pray for burdens to be broken off and freedom to be found.

I’m not going to lie, most of the time when the pastors ask us to pray, I easily get distracted and might possibly find myself wondering, “How long are we going to be doing this for?” And then I hope other people are praying way better than I am because clearly I’m not very focused.

But this time, I just closed my eyes and asked God to love these two guys and remove whatever was troubling them and weighing them down.

And then, like that, I saw two different scenarios playing out and I kept jumping back and forth between the two wanting to know more.

My friend next to me had what looked like a concrete chunk (not a cinder block, but a chunk) around his head that he was carrying the weight of on his shoulders. The other young man in front of me was carrying a backpack, loaded with bricks, that was pulling him down and back, reminding me of a horse-collar tackle.

I thought, “Well, that’s interesting. God. Remove whatever these burdens are from them! What a weight they are both carrying. My heart goes out to them.”

For the friend with the concrete around his head, a small red pickaxe was slowly chipping away at the stone, little bits here and there falling off. This confused me, but then again, what do I know?

And then I looked to the young guy in front of me.

For him, it was the complete opposite. It was as if a bright flash of lightning came and snatched the bag off his back and threw it further than the eye could see. This bag was not to be found and picked up again.

God made it clear that the young man didn’t need this backpack anymore and that He had another bag waiting for him.

This new bag was a messenger type of bag, the kind a newspaper boy in a movie would wear or a delivery guy in the city. This bag was light to carry and of a whitish linen fabric. The old dark backpack had been filled with bricks either he had placed in or other people secretly put in, but this new bag had only things God placed in it.

This bag contained items not for the young man to use but for him to pass out and each time he passed it out, a joy radiated from this young man and from the receiver.

Just watching this unfold brought a smile to my face and I became excited for this future.

As for my friend next to me, I couldn’t understand why the pickaxe was going so slow and seemingly so little. God, why can’t you just break the concrete block off with one big blow? He’s suffocating in there!

“Because that would harm him.”

“The sculptor knows what tool he needs. And the sculptor knows the masterpiece he is making. This takes time and precision, but when it is done, he will be a new creation. A new man”

And I realized, I want things to happen fast. And now. And abracadabra all better!

But that’s not how God works.

He is patient. He is intentional. He is loving and kind. He pays attention to the details.

The artist doesn’t rush his creation, he carefully crafts it.

And this friend of mine is His masterpiece.

As he goes through these current struggles, there will be many things broken off and discarded. Crumbling chunks, smaller pebbles, and dust falling is what I saw. It’s going to be suffocating at times, but things need to be chipped away so that the new can be revealed.

And it’s going to be so good!

Just wait, I wanted to tell him (and will tell him).

I got a sneak peak and lets just say the colors and iridescence left me giddy.

After this time of prayer, I asked the guy in front of me if I could chat with him right after service.

I have no idea how I got the courage to say that to him because I a) get nervous talking to strangers, b) have never seen something and felt the urgency to tell another person before, and c) I know lots of people can misuse this and cause hurt.

So I asked God, “Are you really sure you want me to share this with him?”

And so I tapped on his shoulder before I chickened out.

Turns out he is a 13 year old (who looks 18) who plays football. That backpack and horse collar hold made a lot more sense to me now. He had just been catfished and was devastated. His parents took away his phone and he’s struggling with feeling old enough to handle things, but realizes other people have a strong influence on him that maybe he’s just not ready for yet.

I shared with him what I saw and that I didn’t know exactly what it all meant, but that I did sense that God wanted him to know He sees him and wants him to be a light and joy bearer to those around him.

As for my other friend, I did not share with him yet because I know I will have an opportunity to see him soon (or maybe he’s reading this now…hi!) whereas with the other guy, I knew it was a now or never kind of thing.

All of this is way out of my comfort zone, but at the same time, felt natural and obvious.

I thought I was going to be writing about a prophetic word Justin and I received from the stage a bit ago, but God put this on my heart and said to share it.

So here I am…sharing it.

For what purpose, I’m not exactly sure, but I do suspect that others reading this will either have similar experiences and will hopefully share them with me or…will think I am crazy and full of myself and think it is all made up.

And that’s okay.

It’s not about me.

What I do know is that I watched this young kid’s face and saw hime leave encouraged and less weighed down by the recent events that had greatly discouraged him. He knows he can let go and move forward looking to the time when God puts something new into his hands that won’t cause pain or hurt.

And if God lets me be any small part of that happening, I am willing to put myself out there and be awkward and out of my comfort zone time and time again.

Anyone else?