Questions I'm carrying in my head.
From time to time life throws up questions that stick in my mind, sometimes I work our or find the answer, at others they hover there unanswered.I've decided to post some of them, partly to invite answers, and partly for fun as some questions are probably more rhetorical than actual..some are even opportunities to vent about the fickle nature of people, life and at times my own thinking process! (As this post develops and gets added to I'll leave it to you to choose what is rhetorical,what needs an answer and what is just me letting off steam.
Learning to listen and respond
Recently we've begun experimenting with stepping out using Spiritual Gifts outside of the church meeting, as it's plain they are meant for the whole of life not just church gatherings. People are excited about this...as well as nervous and slightly daunted. This process of stepping out experimenting and learning to hear God throws up all kinds of interesting questions, some of which I'll hopefully remember to post here.
To count or not to count, that is the question?
One that has stuck with me is around how we decide what is a valid prophetic word and what is not.
It appears that some folks accept words like 'I believe God wants me to look for and speak to a chap with a green hat', but reject words like, 'Father wants us to grow to plant 2 more congregations of 100 people in each'. The latter being rejected (in part) because it emphasises specific numbers, which "might put people under pressure"!
The pressure of being specific
Surely looking for a man with a green hat does exactly the same thing? What about the pressure of feeling you have to keep looking till you find green hatted man? Or the pressure to speak to the man with the aforementioned hat, if you spot him? What about if you spot 2 men with green hats at the same time...is there not a pressure to choose whether to speak to one or both of them, or to reject both of them and keep looking for a singular man with a green hat
Are specific numbers wrong, bad...or encouraging? Do we need to acknowledge that God often puts s under pressure, when we have free will but He commands us to do things like, forgive others 7 x 70..0r love our neighbours, what about loving our enemies? Is feeling under pressure to do something always 'religious' or simply something we feel when our (sin corrupted) free will wants to go one way and The Holy Spirit indicates another (better) way?
Do 12, 72 or 100 count?
Was Jesus wrong for choosing 12 disciples because a number was involved...was he wrong to send out the 72? Is the incident with the shepherd spotting sheep number 100 was AWOL, purely symbolic, or does it tell us that numbers are a useful tool in the Kingdom? What about the fact that there is a whole book in the Bible that is called 'Numbers'?
Is there a lesson I need to learn...or am I doing OK?
Does the rejection of the use of specific numbers in a prophecy or in seeking how we should respond to and work with God in response to a specific prophetic word have a scriptural basis? I'm happy to learn and adapt if it does... (Nb I'm talking about numbers as facts, not as numerology or abstract symbols here...that raises whole different set of questions...perhaps for a further post!
