Do you ever get scared about what someone says and it causes you to fear and worry? I know I used to get stressed out when people talked about what I considered fearful issues such as financial crises, wars, end-times prophecy and contagious diseases.
I remember hearing predictions from prophets and instead of preparing, I would be in fear. I had to learn to guard myself against what I took in because most of it never even came to pass.
Recently, as I’ve ministered, I’ve discovered people who experienced the same things I did, people who don’t want to know about the “bad” stuff. They would rather bury their head in the sand and wait for it to happen. But is that wise? No!
God gives us prophets to warn us. But how do we know what warnings to take in and what warnings to release? I believe we need to test the character and fruit of the prophet and the prophecies they have released.
I remember, years ago, a well-known prophet saying we would have revival and miracles during a particular six-week period of time over the summer. The prophecy never came to pass. However, even recently, one of his prophetic words did come to pass. How do we move forward when hearing these things?
First of all, I think it is essential not to fear. Fear is of the enemy. I know the principality of fear has spread throughout the world (see my free e-course on charismacourses.com, on “How to Conquer Fear”), but we must not buy into it nor act upon it. We must live in faith and dismiss all fear.
Secondly, we need to take every word we hear back to the Holy Spirit and ask Him about it. The revelation we receive is for ourselves. It is to give us peace.
I think we need to remember that not everything the Spirit of the Lord shows us is to be shared. We need to pray about what to share and what to hold to ourselves. I believe when we share some things, we can sometimes cause fear to arise in another person. Not everyone wants to hear what we think. We need to make sure we aren’t passing something along the Holy Spirit doesn’t direct.
As we approach the end times, I have witnessed many people who are afraid of end-times predictions and happenings. We need to respect people and where they are or aren’t in their walk with the Lord and leave it up to them what they want to hear and what they need to walk away from.
If we engage them in such a conversation, they may not be prepared for it and we can leave them in more fear than faith. If we are fascinated with end-times prophecy and we know what we are encountering so we can educate ourselves and pray effectively, that is great. However, not everyone is going to share our same enthusiasm.
While we are living in interesting, end-times days, let’s keep our eyes on what is important—healing the sick, casting out demons, bringing the lost to Christ and growing in our personal walk with the Lord. Let’s encourage people to know the truth and seek the truth, but let’s also not force our beliefs, predictions and maybe even what we hear on people who might reject it.
Let’s love them where they are at and gently lead them with respect to where they need to be. Give them the truth of the world, honor the distance they may need to take while growing in their walk with the Lord and love them unconditionally. {eoa}
Kathy DeGraw is a prophetic deliverance minister releasing the love and power of God to ignite and activate people, release prophetic destinies and deliver people from the bondage of the enemy. She is the founder of Kathy DeGraw Ministries and Be Love Outreach. Kathy hosts a weekly podcast show called Prophetic Spiritual Warfare on the Charisma Podcast Network. She is the author of several books, including: Speak Out, Discerning and Destroying the Works of Satan, Unshackled and Warfare Declarations. You can connect with Kathy on Facebook at facebook.com/kathydegraw/ or visit kathydegrawministries.org/.
