***Now that 2015 is complete, I decided to go back and report on how this prophecy panned out, as in, how accurate was it... See the end-of-year updates in bold below.
The more you believe in and listen for God, the more you hear His voice, which means you get supernatural guidance, even prophetic visions.
Sounds crazy, but its happened to me many times. Just click the Prophecy tag in my archives to read all about 'em. But for now, I have to tell you about what happened to me last week, when a bro approached me with a bunch of fresh info for my days ahead.
It was a normal Tuesday morning spent praying with guys in Silicon Valley. Afterward we had breakfast, and then I headed to my car. One of the guys was parked in the same direction, so we walked together. As we did, he piped up and told me that while we had prayed together, God gave him a vision for me.
Now, this isn't just any bro, Shandy Pekkonen, is a guy I've prayed with for over two years, and I know that he both loves Jesus, pursues him anyway he can, he believes God's promises, and as a result, God uses him to do cool things like share a vision of the future.
So I was curious to hear what Shandy had to say. He started out by saying that God was looking forward to creating with me. That he say a large black wall and the two of us, God and I, were throwing ideas on that wall to create a vision for my future. Shandy said that God was really looking forward to that time with me.
Whoa, right away I was hit by what this brother was telling me. For a month I had a strong desire to get away for a day to pray and brainstorm with God on a whiteboard. In fact, there is a friend of mine who has a house overlooking Silicon Valley where I sometimes go to pray, and he had just put a new office on his property, and I specifically wanted to go to that location to have my brainstorm session with God. I had a hunch (which I later confirmed) that instead of a whiteboard, his "brainstorm wall" was currently black.
Update: I ended up doing this within a week of Shandy's prophecy, and it served to orient my thinking. The time played a part in a web of actions that led to my getting a consulting job in Philadelphia where I met with a guy who hired me, resulting in our move to the East Coast.
Next, Shandy told me that God showed him grass that was about to sprout from the ground and that it was going to start growing. This was a result of seeds that I had been sowing.
Update: Shortly after I started my new job at Geneva Global, I learned that there were many people in my network that unbeknownst to me had connections that would serve me in my new role. Without realizing it, I had been sowing seeds for my future work without knowing it, to the level that I've been traveling back to Silicon Valley almost monthly to continue to cultivate those seeds.
Even more, he said, while my wife was largely not involved in my work in this most recent season (ie. few years at my latest job), that was going to change, and she was going to be involved.
This choked me up right on the spot. I never felt like my wife was fully included in my work and that was a missed opportunity to me. I wasn't blaming anyone for it, I just knew that I wanted her to be a part of my life more fully, including my work, because I know she has so much to offer any situation, and plus we're just better as a team. My dream job, in fact, no matter what it is includes working with my wife.
Update: Whitney has been welcomed by my new company with open arms. Geneva Global made extra efforts to ensure she was cared for by having insurance and doctors in place. They provided full-service movers to lighten the load on the move. The COO asked me weekly how my wife was doing, and helped us find a pediatrician when we landed on the East Coast. Whitney felt a real warmth from this extra attention and care, and brought the kids to the office to meet people, and was warmly greeted. People passed the baby around and wanted to know more about her. Our CEO has asked to have Whitney and I over for dinner at his home, and Whitney received a personal thank you from him for making sacrifices to enable my work at the firm especially the travel. At the company Christmas party Whitney and I were invited to sit at the table with the CEO and his wife and managing director and COO. This has all served to welcome Whitney into the company in a way she has never been before. and now that we are moving to a house just a mile from my office, I forsee Whitney stopping by to say hello more than ever before.
Shandy started to tell me about changes coming in my current role at Cityteam, but I had to leave our conversation, because (TMI warning) all the coffee from breakfast had caught up with me and I urgently had to use the bathroom. But I needed to hear the rest of it, so we agreed we'd talk more by phone.
I soon called Shandy back and I wasn't sure how much more God could have given him in this vision. I also know that one moment of vision with God can fill volumes of book, He sometimes paints an entire story with so many details in a single moment (yes, this the same God that breathed into existence all Creation, so its no surprise).
Turns out Shandy had a lot more. He asked me about my parents, and specifically our relationship. He called out specific issues that were affecting us, and he was spot on. The good news, he said, is that there was healing in store for the year ahead. As he was telling me this, I was full of emotion, so happy inside, praising God.
Update: Who knew that we would move back East and that we'd get to spend significantly more time with my parents, which has been truly wonderful, especially to see them with the kids. My Mom drives down to play with the kids every other week or so. I talk to them far more than I did while on the West Coast. We Facetime with the kids more. We've had a number of really constructive conversations. All in all, I definitely feel like we're growing our relationship.
Then Shandy asked about my brother. Wait, did I even have a brother, he asked? Yes, I do. Well, he said, your brother is an amazingly magnetic person, isn't he? Yes, Shandy he is. He is really good speaking to people, connecting with them, delighting them, helping them. Yes, he is all of those things, I reported.
Well, he said, your brother was given a pastoral gift by God, he was made to be a pastor and to speak to people to restore their souls. That is his calling, and there is some history of this in your family (I'm not aware of it, have to do some digging to confirm it). Without going into the details, the things Shandy said about my brother, a person he never met, in fact, he never knew I even had a brother, they were just incredible, true, so good to hear, again, I was ecstatic.
Update: I decided to relay this to my brother, and we've talked about it a couple of times since. The reality is that he is really gifted with people, he connects with them easily and is genuinely interested in their retirement security. I've been sharing with him how, due to this prophecy and continued prayer, I believe that he has an ability to help care for people's eternal security. And I'm so pleased to say that these have been great exchanges. Even more, I later realized that the "history" that Shandy talked about was referring to my Dad and his calling as a pastor. I relayed this to my Dad and ever since have seen it confirmed over and over. He's a "man about town" who knows many people in his town, is often sought out for counsel, and has a heart to help people. We've been discussing that there is perhaps another level of help he can provide, actual healing, casting out demons, speaking life and truth. Again, these conversations are undoubtedly positive, well-received, and on-going.
He concluded by telling me how even though there would be tough work ahead, that the tide was about to change for me and my family. The things he said were such an encouragement to me that I got off the phone, I thanked God for his encouragement, and put my Bible app onto reading mode to sit and listen to Scripture as I drove. I couldn't wait to tell my wife later that night about this encouraging report, and the rest of my family too.
Update: Reading this prophecy now, at the end of the year, literally has me choked up. There was tough work, leaving a job well, leaving an area where I had made great friends, moving across the country with a 5 week old and a toddler, living in transition while we look for a home, starting a new job with 2+ hours of commute time, struggling to be disciplined in my faith with a lot of obligations and a lack of sleep. But the overwhelming sense is that the tide has changed in a BIG way, that is literally how I would describe it. It never ceases to amaze me that God speaks to us, often through other people, to guide us and at times even show us a glimpse of our future.
So, what does your future look like? Do you get reports on it, either small details or a fuller report like I got? You must know that it is possible, that truly all of the days of your life are written in a book held by a good, loving, and just God who desires to show you.
Shandy is available for coaching and ministering to people--reach him here.