To my surprise, I made a joke and God turned it into a prophetic encounter.
I sometimes disapprove of my humor and my playful little jokes, but they don’t seem to bother God. To my surprise, I’ve found Him to be playful too, at times.
Not all the time, of course. When it’s time to be serious, He is. But God has a delightful sense of humor. Here’s what happened.
JoAnn and I decided we needed a day off, and we drove to an artsy little town on California’s central coast. As she enjoys the knickknack shops more than I do, we agreed that I would sit in a favorite coffee shop while she poked around in stores. I had my Macbook Air to keep me company.
Not wanting the coffee to disrupt my digestion, I thought it best to get a pastry. It was a day off, so my diet could wait.
I saw something with almonds, asked what it was, and said, “I need one of those. If I eat almonds, I’ll prophesy.”
“You can prophesy over me,” said the lady who runs the coffee shop, “as long as it’s a good one.”
“I stick with the New Testament guideline to edify, exhort, or comfort,” I replied.
Can prophetic ministry begin with a joke? In this case, the joke got me to open my mouth. Often, God is ready to flow through us, but we need us to open our mouth so He can fill it. See http://www.squidoo.com/open-your-mouth-to-flow.
I tend to be shy, but my little joke about almonds led me to volunteer to prophesy.
Why almonds? Years ago, I was joking about the opening lines of Jeremiah. “Jeremiah, what do you see?” God asked. “I see the rod of an almond tree,” said Jeremiah, and this vision was the start of his prophetic ministry.
I used Jeremiah 1 as an excuse to eat a chocolate bar full of almonds, claiming that it would stir up my prophetic gift.
So now, more than a decade later, I was joking about almonds and offering to prophesy.
I ate my pastry and drank my coffee, and the lady who runs the store neared my table. “The almonds did the trick,” I said, “and I really did see something.” Then I gave her the word I had received. By the time I finished, she said to me, “It’s pretty accurate – right on.”
So now I thought I’d better explain. The last thing we need is an almond cult. “I have to tell you I don’t get spooky about almonds. It’s just a little running joke I play with God.”
She laughed heartily. I think it touched her, that someone would have a friendship with God that would be so tender that it would leave room for a long-standing joke. But the word I had for her was not a joke; it was an affirmation of her care for the poor. Apparently she had given and had cared. I hadn’t seen it, but God had and He told her He had noticed.
So it took a joke to get me to open my mouth. But once the flow started, God moved on from he joke to the serious part.
Stan Smith :: © 2011, GospelSmith :: www.GospelSmith.com
