Here are a couple more stories from when our group gathered with no other purpose than listening to God:
A beautiful illustration comes from our gathering time in Basel, Switzerland. Our host had procured a bronze model of King Arthur and his knights surrounding the Round Table. The king and his knights had drawn their swords, laying them down and centering them at the middle of the Round Table. It was a picture of laying down their personal agendas and swearing allegiance to the king and to each other. This art piece spoke to us of the absolute necessity that each of us be willing to stand at the table with our king, shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and sisters. We also learned that, even though we are ready to slay the dragon, we always need first to lay down our swords and be willing to listen for direction from our king.
Our time in Plano, Texas illustrates the value that each person plays in corporate listening to God. One of us had a picture of a scroll, which was torn in several pieces. Each of us had a piece of that scroll, and as we shared what God had spoken to us personally it formed a whole scroll, a complete word from God. From this experience, we are learning that God speaks to the whole community. Even the times when some of us felt like we had nothing of importance to share or nothing at all, each message was important and formed a beautiful tapestry—one message from God. And we needed each piece of the message. We needed each person to listen and obey. We needed to trust each other and God in each other.
6 replies on “Two more stories from gathering to listen”
beautiful…the body is not fragmented….all the parts help each other, complement each other….love that story…..
The illustrastion of the tapestry is wonderful for what The Lord works in our midst, we are woven together in perfect harmony,through Christ and for his purpose: Heb 10:14 ….”all those whom he is making holy”
The listening body, adhering to King and Master is the way forward on the pathway to righteousness and the Kingdom, each one equal & necessary to fight the good fight and win! Truly there is great strength and might in His hand!It is here that we hear the words of Isaiah
Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Glory to God!
You said “We needed to trust each other and God in each other.” Have you had moments where someone believes they’ve received something from God and it’s corporately decided that it’s not the case? What happened in those cases? How was that dealt with?
We’ve not had it so much in the context I’ve described, but in other contexts, it’s usually worked the other way round. The majority of people feel one way, but one person cannot agree. When that happens, we wait on God to see if the timing may be wrong. We’ve also decided that when all but one or two have agreed on something, those who don’t agree will willingly go along with the opinion of the majority.
Great. So in the case of the images that D.B. received (which were clearly from the Lord), was there discussion within the whole group about whether it was from God or not? Or did you just “go with it” to see where it goes?
With the group I’m in, there are some people that I’d want to be getting MANY witnesses before I trusted that what they were saying was from the Lord. I know you know what I mean :).
Or was it just that D.B. was someone that was mature enough to discern? Or a combination of that and a corporate witness?
Sorry to be so long getting back on your question. It’s been crazy here recently!
In DBs case, he is a mature, recognized prophet with a long history of very accurate words from the Lord. Plus there was a corporate witness. But I think the word is clear, we are to weigh prophetic words, taking what is good from them, and not assuming that every part is from the Lord (we prophesy in part…)
However, it was only in the light of subsequent events that we realized how accurate DB’s pictures were, so there was an element of pragmatism too.
I remember a much larger meeting where people were waiting on the Lord in the same way. Some far less mature people were there, who seemed to think that their every stray thought had prophetic import. Our time was a disaster until it was pointed out that you need discernment as to whether or not to share what you sense the Lord is saying. I think we have a lot to learn in these areas.