Prophet Blessing #6: Honor
Beloved, I call your spirit to attention, and I invite the Prophet portion to come explore another of God’s gifts to you.
Prophet, what do we do with the fact that you and your tribe have historically received massive dishonor for your work among us? Where is the generosity of God in this picture?
I believe we can see God’s generosity toward you in the tasks Father gives you.
Think of it this way. In our culture, we are rewarded according to the difficulty of the job we do. A brain surgeon is rewarded at a level far above what we pay the boy who delivers your newspaper in the morning.
The difficulty in learning the brain surgeon’s job and the difficulty in doing it well are the basis for our paying him much more.
You, Prophet, are frequently selected by God for some of the hardest tasks. You are called to do things that have never been done before, therefore they are hard to learn. You have to figure out how to do the hard tasks, then teach yourself what you have just figured out theoretically.
For many of your tasks, doing them is as big a challenge as learning how to do them. You may be up against an established orthodoxy that is violently opposed to your new paradigms even though you can prove that they work magnificently. Your job is to walk out in your own life what you have received from God and to do it in the face of withering scorn or militant opposition.
You may be assigned a problem that you have to live with for decades as you carry a load of pain and hardship that might crush other people. While you carry that burden, you are also expected to do a normal day’s work without additional support.
Father may ask you to believe Him for something and then take you an ocean beyond any reasonable test of your faith without ever reaffirming the original conversation.
So where is the gift of God in the midst of all this pain?
Beloved Prophet, it is in the honor God gives you for doing those big hard things. Honor from the hand of God is the currency of the Prophet.
As a Prophet, you refuse to beg for honor from people. You shun honor that is not a reflection of who you really are and what you have really done. You have contempt for people who scheme and manipulate in order to get an hour of glory they don’t deserve.
Cheap honor is not found in your house.
As a Prophet you often wear the dishonor people give you as a badge of true honor. You boldly count the enemies of God as your enemies and assume that people who dishonor you are really fighting against the God you represent.
But . . . at the end of the day, a Prophet does thrive on honor that comes from the hand of God because this is true honor. It is honor based on essence and on the right activity that flows from essence.
This is the beauty of the honor given Elijah. His disciple, Elisha, did twice as many miracles as Elijah, but God was quite clear that Elijah was the greatest of the Prophets. In his inner man, his essence, he was greater and God honored essence, not actions.
This means so much to a Prophet. It is true honor.
Often the appropriate honor comes to a Prophet in later generations and that is OK since a mature Prophet is willing to let history be his judge. Truth is inexorable and his or her reputation is secure in the hands of God.
So Prophet, God knows you crave the honor that comes from Him more than the honor that comes from man. Not only is God absolutely willing to give you the honor that is due you, but He delights in setting you up for greater honor.
He gives you gigantic challenges that will grow your spirit as you seek the revelation of His principles. He challenges you with daunting hardships that others would flinch from. He positions you for magnificent victories that others don’t even envision.
And every step along the way, Father is accurately, honestly, weighing your spirit and, in the fullness of time, you WILL receive the gift you crave – high honor from the God who knows what should and shouldn’t be honored.
Prophet, you WILL be honored by God for all that is fine and noble and extraordinary about you. Whether the honor comes in your lifetime or not no one knows, but it will come because God is extravagant in His utterly just honoring of the Prophets.
So welcome in our midst, Prophet. While I know we humans cannot give you the full measure of honor you crave, we do extend to you the honor of being most welcome among us as you do your uncommon work. We bless you in the name of our King, Jesus Christ.
At home
Fullerton, CA
September 24, 2008
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