God’s Special Effects—Part III
I’m setting the stage to explain why I posted what I posted on Facebook during the Super Bowl. Last time, I discussed spiritual gifts and the word of knowledge. This time, I’ll discuss prophecy. It isn’t Bible or End Times prophecy. It’s God speaking. Any New Testament Christian can prophesy. (I Corinthians 14:31) Click to Tweet #GodsSpecialEffects #SpiritualGifts #SuperBowl2018
A prophecy given usually connotes a future event. When I began to stir up my gifts (as we are encouraged to do, see II Timothy 1:6), I used to “practice” hearing from God by watching a sports event…a baseball game, a football game, etc. Because I could see results of my practice quickly. I would ask the Lord about a batter. Will he get a hit, or make an out? Will this football team’s drive result in a touchdown, or will they have to punt? I’d see results quite quickly.
In the beginning, I was wrong more than right. Of course. Like a child beginning to walk, they fall often stumble, and fall. But they pick themselves up and try again. It’s the same with spiritual gifts having to do with revelations from God. Why does God do this? Why does He reveal these things? Because modern day “prophecy” is all about “edification, exhortation, and comfort.” I Corinthians 14:3
Once before a few weekends ago, God spoke to me about the results of an “important” sports contest. My hubby and I were fans of the Philadelphia Phillies. They went to the World Series in 2008. If you’ll remember, the last game of the series had a rain delay. They decided to postpone the rest of the game until the next evening. They hadn’t played enough to call it a game. I believe they wouldn’t have anyway, because it was the series-winning determinate game.
My husband had already gone to bed. I was getting ready for bed in the dark, when God spoke to me. I wasn’t even thinking about baseball, or anything else. But I heard God’s voice clearly. “The Phillies will win the World Series tomorrow night.” And almost as an afterthought: “Oh, and Burrell will get a hit.” God knew I liked the outfielder Pat Burrell. And Burrell got a hit the next evening. I nearly screamed. I said, “I knew it! I knew it!” My precious hubby was like, “Really?” He knows I have a prophetic gift. He doesn’t understand it very well, but he tolerates me most of the time.
That’s introduction. Next time, I’ll tell what I heard, why I think I heard when I heard, outcomes of playoff football games…ones I had emotional stakes in (Eagles), and some games I didn’t have any emotion for.
I’ll explain why it appeared that God changed his mind about who would win the Super Bowl. It’s been an amazing, frustrating, and gut-wrenching journey the last three weeks. It culminated in the Super Bowl. Hang in there. I wanted to give you the whole story. But I had to set it up so that you would know what this was like for me. God speaks today through many avenues. There is only way TO God, but there are many ways God speaks to us. They are all special. Click to Tweet #GodsSpecialEffects #SpiritualGifts #SuperBowl2018
Donna L.H. Smith 