Recently, my wife and I were on vacation in the great state of Michigan to visit family. We spent a couple of days on Mackinac Island up north. It is a fascinating, one-of-a-kind island where there are no cars and automobiles, just horses and carriages to get around.
We were enjoying the getaway from the busyness of city life and stress. While we were out and about on the island, something unusual happened. We kept running into two different couples throughout the day. The first couple we encountered sat next to us at a restaurant and subsequently ran into us two other times that day.
The second couple we encountered bumped into us four different times on different parts of the island. They even joked, “We promise, we are not stalking you!” Now, the island is not big. However, it is not so small that running into people multiple times a day is a normal occurrence.
At this point, the Holy Spirit had gotten my attention. I turned to my wife, Tiffany, and said to her, “This is really strange, but I just heard the Holy Spirit whisper to my ear, “Things are going to look really familiar again.” One of the ways God speaks is through circumstances. When He speaks to me, I have learned to discern if it is a personal word or a corporate word to be released to the body. This time, I felt it was the latter.
A few days later, we were in Frankenmuth, Michigan, where my in-laws live. We were meeting with a friend at a coffee place when a gentleman walked to our table and asked if we knew of good restaurants in town. We got chatting and I noticed he had two other friends with him. I looked at his friends and asked, “Where are you guys from?” They replied, “Redding, California.”
My eyes lit up and I said, “No way! We are from Redding too!” I mean, what are the odds of that? What is the likelihood that we would run into people from where we live, in the middle of Michigan, in a town of about 5,000 people, some 2,400 miles away? Again, the Holy Spirit whispered to me, “Things are going to look really familiar again.”
From Obscurity to Familiarity
This is what I felt the Holy Spirit wants me to release to the body in this season: God is bringing remembrance and familiarity to the prophetic dreams, visions, words and promises He’s made to His people. Because of extended times of waiting, weariness, disappointment, ignorance, neglect and a lack of faith and intentionality, these words have been shelved. They’ve been put on the back burner, having become inactive and dormant (or worse still) and forgotten and buried in the ground.
The Lord is bringing what has become obscure in the background to the forefront of our lives in this season. I see Him resurrecting and breathing afresh on dreams and visions. These are kairos moments and appointed times where His activities over our lives are heightened and His hand is intent on performing and accomplishing His will and purposes on the earth.
Unlike us, God does not forget the very things He has planned and spoken concerning our lives. He is strategic and intentional. He is the God who watches over His Word to perform it. In other words, if He has said it, then He has also set an appointed time to honor and fulfill it. He is the God of the seasons.
Many of you are moving from a lull season into an active season. The last thing you want to do is to be passive when the Spirit is active and moving. Just like the sons of Issachar, “… those having understanding of times and what Israel should do …” (1 Chron. 12:32), we need to rightly discern what the Lord is doing in our lives and on the earth. We need to be sensitive to the ebb and flow of the move of His Spirit so that we can effectively partner with Him and see heaven’s will and purpose manifest in and through our lives.
I see the Lord awakening a slumbering spirit on His people. I speak to your spirit, “Wake up!” You may have felt like He had been silent. He is not silent in this season. He is speaking and you need to perk up, tune in and listen attentively. Pull out your journals and revisit the things, words and promises He had made to you. He is pouring out fresh grace on the things He has committed to you previously. There is a momentum being released in the Spirit that will lead to great manifestation in this season.
“For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. The wild animals in the fields will thank Me, the jackals and owls, too, for giving them water in the desert. Yes, I will make rivers in the dry wasteland so My chosen people can be refreshed” (Isa. 43:19-20, NLT).
He has already begun doing something new in this season. Do you not see it or perceive it? We cannot afford to be ignorant or negligent. We cannot afford to lag behind. It is crucial that we catch up to where He is leading and speaking and realign our priorities and hearts to His. The ones that are rewarded and see dreams fulfilled in this season are the diligent ones who are familiar and acquainted with His voice and the things He has committed to them.
Pray with me: Lord, open the eyes of my spirit to perceive and understand what You are doing in my life and on the earth in this season. Grant me fresh grace to discern and follow Your leading. Lead me out of obscurity to familiarity with Your voice and Your promises over my life. Refresh me by Your Spirit. Awaken me from my slumber and tune me in to the frequency of heaven. I thank You for great manifestation of promises fulfilled in and through my life in this season! In Jesus’ name and for Your kingdom’s sake, let it be on earth as it is in heaven! {eoa}
Founder of 7K and Elisha’s Room, Dr. Cornelius Quek is passionate about equipping and mentoring contemporary leaders and culture-makers who know their God and impact every sphere of society. He was powerfully delivered from a background of Buddhism and pagan idol worship in Singapore. He has traveled and ministered extensively internationally and in the United States. Dr. Cornelius graduated from London School of Theology, United Kingdom, earned a Master of Divinity (Hons.) and Doctor of Ministry from the world-renowned Oral Roberts University, researching on increasing the supernatural in the marketplace. He and his beautiful wife, Tiffany, are ordained by Bethel Church in Redding, California, where they serve as connect pastors. Dr. Cornelius also teaches Bible at church as well as the Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry.