PROPHETIC WORD: You’re Going From The Back of the Line To The Front This Season!
GET READY BELOVED! YOUR TURN IS NEXT!
“He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness and light dwells within him.” Daniel 2:21-22
The other day I arrived at the airport three hours before my flight. I’d heard that there were major delays, so I showed up with an abundance of time and way early.
I was shocked at what I saw! The line was longer than a football field and spiraled all the way outside!
Suddenly, a worker walked straight to me and asked for my paperwork. He checked it and said: “I’ll take you to the counter, just follow me.”
Then he escorted me all the way to the front of the line! He even had me go under the barricades and I bypassed everyone!
But wait, this was just the beginning!
God was showing me a magnificent spiritual lesson here.
After I checked my baggage all in, I had to get in another line with passport control. I was traveling internationally and the process was longer than I’d ever seen. There were three more lines and lots of other processes. I realized I was not catching the flight and three hours was simply not enough time.
I stood in line quietly for about 20 minutes and surrendered to it all.
Then all of the sudden, again, another airport worker popped up next to me! IT WAS ABSOLUTELY WILD! Out of all those hundreds and hundreds of people, he just so happened to walk right to me!
He asked what airline I was flying (which was one of the lower class airlines, so this makes the situation all the more remarkable).
After I told the worker my airline, he then said “follow me.”
He took me from the line and escorted me through the entire process, passing hundreds and hundreds of frustrated people. I felt like I was a U.S. diplomat or celebrity or something! I have never in my life experienced something like this and it was so outlandish I knew it was God at work.
I went from the back of the line to the front TWICE - in an instant - with no explanation!
I was called on just an ordinary day with no expectation and I followed. The only thing that made me different than others was sweet, divine favor and timing from Jesus that had nothing to do with me and everything to do with Him.
This is exactly what Jesus does when He says to “follow me” and you obey.
Today the Lord is saying to many of you who have stood the test of time and persevered for long periods of suffering that a shift is taking place when you least expect it!
Many of you are moving from the back of the line to the front!!!! You will suddenly accelerate in areas that have held you back in prior seasons and you’ll swiftly be catapulted to the front of the line in an instant!!!
For many years prior to this Kairos season, Jesus asked you to simply “follow me” and you did so with obedience and discipline. You didn’t expect anything in return and just trusted Him through the journey. Then in a moment when you have no expectations, God will call you from the back to the front!!! He will personally escort you and shift you into a new season of life. All those barricades mean nothing to the King!
You have been stripped of so much pride in prior seasons and God refined you in the fire over and over again. You have no desire of self any longer. You will feel like you don’t even deserve everything the Lord is bringing forth. However, receive it all because the Father loves you so very much. He’s deeply proud of your decision to follow the narrow path.
And get this! Just as I writing the above paragraph, my phone dinged! It was a Bible verse notification that said:
“So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 20:16
The Holy Spirit is speaking in MAJOR WAYS, so those with spiritual ears, open them to perceive everything He wants you know to in this kairos season.
KAIROS SEASON: You might see the number 86 popping up a bit during this time if the Lord speaks to you this way. That’s because kairos was used 86 times in the New Testament and it means “an opportune time, a "moment" or a "season" such as "harvest time”. It’s a very extraordinary period of life for those God chooses. The Strong’s Greek Concordance explains kairos as a noun that represents a “fitting season, opportunity or occasion.”
Humans don’t have the capability to choose a kairos time. God decides and it doesn’t have anything to do with the normal passage of time. Just one day you will wake up and suddenly the Lord dramatically shifts everything. It’s an incredibly powerful period that is life-alternating and will change your destiny forever.
Since I work in sports, let me give you an NBA example.
A kairos time happens for an athlete who might have honored his professional career for many years and he found some success. However, he is not the star player and knows deep in his soul that God has something more coming. He might have suffered a major injury or hardship that even threatened his career at one point. Christ used this period to humble him and gently love him back to life. Now at this point in his career, his soul is fortified because something deeper is at work. He shows up each day and serves others, practices hard, honors the gifts God has given him and spends lots of time with Jesus.
He might even have flashes of success during short periods, but then it fades. That’s because God is building him up — and then uprooting — because this player is still in a season of growth. He’s not ready just yet. He has to first understand with clarity that his hard work is great — but it’s not the reason for his success. God, alone, gets the glory.
Then out of nowhere, this player is suddenly thrust into his kairos moment. Almost overnight, all of his shots start to fall, and he excels out of nowhere in life and on the court. People can’t help but notice and they wonder how in the world this is happening. It might even be out of season and late in his career (a la Kurt Warner in football). This is because he cannot take any credit. He knows that only the Lord did this and only God gets the glory.
This is kairos time.
Many of you have arrived in your kairos moment.
Here’s what you need to remember during this season…
YOUR DECISION TO GIVE UP EVERYTHING TO CHASE GOD WILL COST YOU GREATLY — BUT IT COMES WITH GREAT REWARD. IT MIGHT JUST LOOK DIFFERENT THAN YOU EXPECT.
In Matthew 20, Jesus is teaching through a parable by using an example of vineyard workers. The workers all show up at different times to work and some just put in a few hours work. However, the owner still pays them the same wages. In the modern day, we know that God is the giver of all gifts and He dishes grace and favor as He pleases. The timing and even favor doesn’t have to make sense to others.
Peter and the disciples knew they had to give up everything to follow Jesus, and they often wanted to know the reward. Jesus teaches them that they would be rewarded, but it would look different than they expected.
Many of the disciples were later martyred, but they also saw the church born and a rapid acceleration of the body of Christ ignited during their lifetime. They received the gift of the Holy Spirit and got to teach to the nations. By the end of their life, they had no concern for rewards and gifts for self, but they were passionate and on fire to see others accept Jesus Christ.
In the same way, if you choose to follow Jesus, you will be richly rewarded in ways that aren’t apparent at the start of your journey. This does’t mean that all the sudden you’ll become an overnight sensation, star, or come into massive wealth. What it does mean is that God will use you to bring many souls to the Kingdom and this will be the greatest reward of your life. Suddenly and swiftly things will just click and make sense. You go from seeing the world in 2D to 4D with Christ.
REMEMBER TO ALWAYS VIEW YOURSELF AS THE STUDENT AND PUPIL: STAY HUMBLE
God works on the currency of grace. This means He calls who He wants to call and many of you likely never even asked for the gifts He’s bestowed on your life.
One day Jesus just chose you, injected the fire of His heart inside yours and brought you from the back to the front to serve His people.
You don’t need a seminary or theology degree to be used mightily for the Kingdom.
Look at the disciples. Some were fisherman and uneducated and the least of those in society. This is a reminder that when God — through the power of the Holy Spirit — works in your life, He will become your Teacher and Boss.
The Lord can give you more wisdom and knowledge by spending time with Him than decades in a classroom or boardroom. He will personally raise you up Himself as His most prized, adored and favorite pupil. You will show up to His secret place classroom each day for one-on-one training.
Those in the back can be thrust to the front in an instant and without any explanation!
You might even have sudden and rapid God-inspired understanding of the Bible that takes decades for others to learn.
The passage of time and delay during your pruning season had a monumental purpose. By the time you go from the back to the front, all displays of pride and arrogance have been gutted out. You will long to please the Father and steward the gifts and talents He’s given you only to help others.
For those of you who are called to the public, it might even feel uncomfortable at times because you’d rather hide in the back. You like to remain hidden and out of sight.
However there becomes a moment where the call is so powerful that you can no longer resist when Jesus suddenly thrusts you forward. You have to just act in obedience no matter how scary it might feel.
When God finally calls you from the back to the front, you will understand with absolute clarity that your gifts, time and treasures do not belong to you. You don’t own them, but simply steward what He’s put in your care.
When you act like the owner of your gifts, chaos and disruption will come. When you wake up each morning and hand them right back to Jesus and say “everything belongs to You, Oh Lord. Show me how to help Your people this week and teach me to love them like You…” then Father God knows you’re ready to become His disciple to feed His sheep.
Some of you might even wonder why your training camp season was so long and painful. That’s because God is using you mightily to reach people and you CANNOT COMPROMISE.
There are countless people right now who have fallen in ministry in recent seasons. The Lord gave them a platform and they saw rapid acceleration and chased after the applause of man, attendance numbers, their celebrity status and loved all the attention.
Then, just like King Saul, they saw their platforms come crumbling in an instant! God made sure YOU RECEIVED MATURITY IN THE SPIRIT FIRST BEFORE EVER BRINGING YOU FORWARD.
The training wheels are now off and you’ve reached a new level out of your obedience. It won’t always make sense to others, but it makes sense to Jesus who chose you all by His sweet self.
Just answer the call and go wherever He leads.
FINALLY — YOU MUST REMAIN SEPARATE FROM THE DESIRES OF THE WORLD THIS SEASON MORE THAN EVER!
Now, more than ever, when you go from the back to the front — you cannot be amused by fleeting things of the world.
The Lord is opening doors and will continue to prune you for the harvest fields, but these are just the final stages.
You have to cling to Jesus unlike ever before.
There are many wolves and foxes out there trying to snatch the vineyards.
One thing that’s really made me sad in this season of life is to see many believers getting mixed up with the culture.
These are people who really have a heart for the Lord, but they are suddenly speaking about “manifesting and speaking your dreams” and they proclaim God, but also mix their beliefs with all this New Ageism stuff. This is the kind of Baal worship that Elijah spoke out against during his ministry. Even dabbling a little bit can have extreme consequences in our spiritual walks.
Friends, we cannot confuse the One True God with the little gods of the world.
The word “Karma” is not in the Bible. The Lord teaches grace, not Karma. We can’t “manifest our dreams” because the Lord is the Author of all. By pretending to “speak things into existence” we are claiming to be the sole authority of our life and we think everything happens because of our control.
Many of you understand this with clarity, but you are afraid to rock the boat and speak about this.
This is not a time to stay silent. You don’t have to call out these things in arrogant and public ways, but if you have a close relationship with someone and God gives you the chance to disciple to them, then understand you must teach with lovingkindness and gentleness.
This discipleship and love you show people can literally change the trajectory of their lives in an instant! That’s what happened to me!
Before I came to know the Holy Spirit, I got confused, too. I had a distant cousin who stepped into my life and got me on track. I was confusing spiritualism with the Holy Spirit because I didn’t have a firm grasp of the Bible during that period. She was bold, and very direct, and God used her to change my entire life. With kindness, she redirected me towards the Holy Spirit. She helped me understand who He is.
All my life I thought it was just my words and ideas guiding me. I later realized the Holy Spirit was advocating for me the entire time. If she wouldn’t have pointed this out, who knows where I’d be!
We must always remember this when God sends us from the back of the line to the front! Lead with LOVE and make edifying and teaching others your focal point!
What we’re seeing, even in the body of Christ, are people who have actually been called and chosen by Jesus, but instead of seeking out the Word and Scripture in the Bible, they are satisfied with “fast food faith.” This looks something like browsing scripture only on social media, reading short devotionals or never opening the Bible.
Following Jesus means you show up to the five-star restaurant hungry each day to spend intimate time with the Father inside the Word. His Word is living and He will constantly meet you over and over. HE WILL SATISFY EVERY LAST BIT OF HUNGER.
You don’t have to be perfect and have it all right, but the Lord does demand discipline and laser-focus for those He’s calling from the back to the front. Many of you have specifically been placed to serve in ministry outside the church and this takes another level of discipline and obedience.
You don’t have to walk holier than thou, but you do need to have a heart for the lost and heartbroken and see the invisible ones and hidden people among the crowd. You must have a deep fire and passion to find those who don’t get much attention and might seem the lowest on the totem pole.
You are the very person God has sent forth to love that person. In fact, your entire career might even be to serve and love one person who has been overlooked and cast aside their entire life.
The Lord has already told you exactly where He’s leading you and none of this will come by surprise.
Doors are opening.
You are now going from the back to the front and no one else will get this credit except God.
