SHOW UP AND SPEAK UP!

Write the vision; MAKE IT PLAIN on tablets, so he may RUN who reads it. (Habakkuk 2:2 ESV)

What is your vision (“oracle,” “prophecy”) for this year? Is it plain to you? Are you able to run with it or are you weighed down with so many other messages, responsibilities, or interests that you can’t even see where to take your next step? Is your vision and message clear enough and focused enough to make the impact heaven desires?

I’ve personally been under a dark cloud in recent months as my life has gotten more complex and intertwined with many different roles and responsibilities, various writing projects, and a myriad of prophetic ideas. Though any one of them would be worthy of my time, the accumulation of them together was taking me under. Not only was I tired and worn out, I was discouraged and lacking clarity. Heading into the new year, I began to seriously question what “my message” truly was.

I believe that every one of us is called and anointed for something specific. Our place here on this earth is no coincidence, nor is it for some general purpose. We have been uniquely created and wired for a specific assignment and mission that only we can accomplish. We have a voice we are to use and a message we are to proclaim. The problem in our increasingly interactive world is that we compare, contrast, and copy other voices and end up losing our own. We easily sidestep that which we, alone, can accomplish in favor of doing what seems to be gaining steam in another person’s lane.

I heard a recent Facebook video by Larry Sparks (my book publisher with Destiny Image) and he spoke a word that hit my spirit. He said we are supposed to “Show up and Speak up!” As soon as he said it, I knew I had been missing both. I realized that without a clarity of the message we are to carry and the vision we are to run with, we have no starting point and no road map. We don’t know where to go or where to “show up.” If we do manage to make ourselves available with a willingness to voice the Lord’s intent, we often doubt ourselves or determine that someone else will do it instead of us. This has got to change.

This is supposed to be the year of 20/20 vision – clarity of thought and focus. We are supposed to be sounding the trumpet and proclaiming the will of the Lord. But we can’t do that if we have not determined the unique message we are to carry.

Once I began to ask the Lord about this, it wasn’t long before I heard His voice clearly identify the unique message He gave ME for this next year. As soon as I got it – I got it. I didn’t waste time doubting or debating the message because it had already been brewing deep within my spirit, wondering when I would pay attention to it. With the message settled, I now know where I’m supposed go and what I’m supposed to say. The question is – do you?

Given the intensity of the spiritual battles in this election year and the rising demonic oppression hovering in the atmosphere, we must each take account for our unique role in this battle. We must avoid comparisons and determine what the Lord has given US. It won’t look like someone else or sound like someone else. If we are faithful to BE who God created us to be and SPEAK what He tells us to speak, it will carry the breath of the Spirit and bring life and power to those who hear it. I believe if each one does THEIR unique part, all the parts will be enriched and our voice will sound AS ONE.

It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it. (Isaiah 2:2 ESV)

Though I know I have a governmental mantle on my life, I am primarily called to the Church mountain. My engagement in the political sphere is due to my passion in seeing the spiritual realities of Kingdom government fully established on the earth. Unless the apostles and prophets lead the way in establishing godly government within the Ecclesia of God, we will have no legitimate authority in the spirit or any viable power to bring transformation to our nations. The message I know I must champion is to establish the Mountain of the House of the Lord above all other mountains in order for other nations to follow.

This is the scroll I’ve been given for this season and the one I am to run with. You have one, as well. Do you know what it is? Are your hands free enough to be able to carry it? Is your lane clear enough of obstacles and roadblocks to run without stumbling over them?

I believe there is a sifting and pruning taking place within many lives. There are weights that need to be laid aside if we are to run the race set before us in this next year (see Hebrews 12:1). Personally, the Lord sovereignly pruned some things from my life that were draining my emotional energy and prophetic clarity. Without realizing it, things I thought were essential had actually been robbing me of vision and strength. With those weights lifted, I can now look down my own lane, see the goal in front of me, and run with clarity and focus.

Every believer is called to be an oracle of God – one who prophesies the will of the Lord. Every one of us has a voice we must use to prepare the way for Kingdom rule and authority. It’s time to show up to those places the Lord takes us and to speak up the message we’ve been given.

Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak. (Exodus 4:12)