Or leaning not to run after every “revelation”!
A few years ago, when Cathy and I were doing our trip between France and Israel on our yacht, “Indeed”, we were caught in one of the worst storms. Whilst the weather forecast had predicted a force 3 North-East wind for our crossing to Sicily, after navigating for 3 hours, we were thrown into massive storm of force 8/9. Within a few minutes, the wind had ripped our sail. We had no option but to turn back to the nearest harbour about ten nautical miles away, Porto di Calla Gonone.
Our automatic pilot was unable to steer us in such a huge storm, so I sent Cathy inside and steered manually, roped on to the cockpit for hours on end.
The engine pushed to the limit, the wind against us made us go backwards at times and it took over 6 hours for us to finally reach the coast and make out the lights of the fishing village where we were wanting to shelter.
It was nearly 11pm, the night was inky black and I was carefully steering towards the entrance to the harbour. But suddenly, I was completely lost.
With all the lights from the restaurants and bars, neon lights of every colour, it was impossible to find the red and green lights that mark the entrance to harbours.
The waves were very powerful, and I could hear them crashing into the jetty that I could not see, being completely dazzled by all the lights on the quay. At that moment, I was convinced that we were going to be smashed up on the rocks and that our last hour had come. I had the impression that Satan was laughing his head off at us in the midst of the storm.
So, I began to hug the shoreline that I had managed to pick out on the map, when suddenly, in the dark, against the open sea, I saw a little green light flickering. At last I had found the entrance to the harbour. I headed towards it and ten minutes later, with help from people on the quay, we were moored and saved. But my purpose in writing this article today is not to make you shudder, listing to our adventures.
For some months, Cathy and I have been going through a huge storm, spiritually and in our souls, and little while back, during a prayer watch, in the spirit, I suddenly saw a picture of our arrival at that little Sardinian harbour. We were fasting and praying, and on the first day, I heard the Lord saying to me: Do not seek answers; seek my presence. It’s hard not to look for “prophetic answers” when our hearts are full of questions, when our very future seems to depend on them. But through looking for answers, we sometimes (often?) open our hearts to all sorts of words.
It is the “moth syndrome”: we draw close to the brightest lights, wanting to see more clearly, and our wings get burnt…
In the same way, in recent times, I have seen many people seeking “prophetic” words concerning Covid, the American elections, the re-opening of churches, the return of their everyday life. As soon as they have found what they are seeking, they splash it all over Facebook, WhatsApp, and other social media, ending up practically in a state of depression when the opposite of the predicted words actually happens. Often, having barely picked themselves up emotionally from the last prophecy, they rush off again in search of the next one to share on their Facebook wall.
I am always sceptical when a prophet explains via a new prophetic word why the last one didn’t actually come to pass. Does God not tell us that we will be able recognise real prophets by the fact that their words come to pass? (Jer. 28:9)
We have confused “walking in the spirit” with being led by prophecies.
But what does “walking in the spirit” actually mean?
I did a Google search, and this is the kind of definition I found: “Living by the Spirit means leading one’s life being led by the Holy Spirit, listing to Him, allowing Him to control everything and, above all, obeying Him.”
I must admit, this kind of definition doesn’t entirely satisfy me.
I am convinced that walking by the spirit is referring to our own spirit.
Made in the image of God, we were created in three parts.
We are body, soul and spirit.
- Our body is easy to define: it is everything physical about us.
- Our soul is a little more complicated. Put simply, it is everything about us that is not physical, but that is not spiritual either (so one might say one’s psyche, memories, education etc).
- The spirit is what was given to us and that no other creature has received. The divine Breath. What died with sin and was brought back to life when we were born again.
In the beginning, our being was meant to be led by our spirit, which would thus allow our soul and body to prosper. The day our spirit died, through sin, it is our soul that took up the reins. It was to the soul that Satan addressed himself when he went to talk to Eve. It is to your soul that he speaks when he comes to tempt you.
Today, our faith in Christ allowed our spirit to live again, and in Galatians, Paul invites us to re-establish its authority in our being. In this way, we should not have to allow either our primary instincts (body) nor our emotions, which are unstable by their very nature, to lead our existence. Only our spirit, capable of having a relationship with the Spirit of God, should ultimately take control.
We already have everything within us that we need to understand and carry
out the will of God.
Of course, prophecies may confirm this or that point, but we cannot rely on these divine interventions to walk in the spirit daily.
So, it is up to us to make sure that our spirit, through spending more and more time with the Spirit, with the Word, the Son and with the Father, may learn to lead our lives. May our spirit know how to take care of our soul without giving in to it, and may it respect our body so that its service for the Kingdom may last as long as possible.