To Not Swing, Is to Miss.
Last week I dreamt that I was on a work assignment in what we would call a House of Prayer. A literal house where people just pray the heart of God. While on this assignment I started to become perplexed because I was looking at the investment numbers and I did not see a return. It looked like no progress was being made. So, I sent in a complaint to customer service asking for an explanation of what in the world was happening. We should be seeing results by now. There should be a return on our investments. Hours later they reached out to my co-laborer, and the representative said, “You guys have to keep pressing and praying until something shifts. The breakthrough is there, but you have to keep praying until you break through. You’re so close.” They said it so matter-of-factly and sternly. They promised we would see a return. They could see the progression and they could see the expected outcome. I saw a vision of some sort of finance chart and the arrow went from pointing down toward loss, to shooting up toward profit/increase.
When I woke up from that dream, my mind instantly went to the scripture found in the 23rd chapter of Jeremiah: “The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully. What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord. “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
Jeremiah 23:28-29 NKJV
Before I apply the verse, I want to explore some of the symbolism that popped up throughout the dream.
1.) In the dream, we were in a house of prayer. In real life (reality), this house actually existed and was a house that was dedicated to The Lord and His purposes. For decades, it was a house of prayer and of service. We were there for a year, and we partnered with God out of that house. A beautiful example of co-laboring with Christ. A ton of prayer happened in that house, and a lot of serving vulnerable populations. We experienced so many miracles on the other side of our persistent prayers. Lives on the brink of death-rescued. The sick were healed. Neighborhoods shifted. And people were loved in action.
2.) In the dream, I absolutely knew I was on a work assignment. And I was investing a lot of my money (time, energy, prayer) into the work. But when I looked at our financial reports (progress), it looked like we were taking a loss. There was no return on our investment. It looked like we were in the negative by thousands. The downward projection was horrible. In the dream it was frustrating and it didn’t make any sense. Which led me to reach out to customer service. I put in a ticket. The customer service representative reached out to my partner, and explained everything. This was an angel with a message from The Lord. He had firm instructions and assurances that we were on the right track. That’s what God wanted us to know-to keep going. There’s a shift; there’s breakthrough on the other side.
3.) At the end of the dream, I had a vision of the financial report. There was a shift. We began trending in the positive direction. The projection changed after we received the instructions (the revelation). This would be the breakthrough.
“The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has My word, let him speak My word faithfully.What is the chaff to the wheat?” says the Lord. “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?”
Jeremiah 23:28-29 NKJV
Holy Spirit had been speaking this to me all year: “Is not My Word like a hammer?”. He was encouraging me to keep professing and praying THE WORD of God over EVERYTHING. The Word is very much ALIVE and ACTIVE. And God WATCHES OVER HIS WORD TO PERFORM IT. His Word is FORVER and UNCHANGING.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
Hebrews 4:12 NKJV
“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:11 NKJV
“The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.””
Isaiah 40:8 NKJV
There were some things I had let up on because I feel like I had prayed and wept enough over those things. By the time I was finished processing this dream, I picked up praying for those things again. Even prayers that I’ve lifted up from my teenaged years. His instruction is to keep hitting the hard things with my Word. The Word is working, regardless of what it looks like on the surface. I underestimated and undervalued His direction. My head can be hard. However, I understand now.
Lastly, the context of this verse is pulled from the middle of God speaking judgement against false prophets in the land: prophesying false dreams and visions and claiming they came from God. They prophesied lies to the Israelites, causing them to error in their ways. They exalted their dreams and visions above His Word (what is the chaff [outer husk of the grain] to the wheat [actual grain/nutrients]?). They prophesied peace to haters of God; and safety to those following their own hearts. They perverted the words of the Living God, and spoke on His behalf when He gave them nothing to say, and they were cursed because of it.
If God holds His Word so highly (even above His name, mind you), that He’s willing to curse the folks who would lie and say He spoke something He did not, and that He’s blessing someone He has not, how much more weighty is His Word toward us walking in Truth? How much more of a hammer is His Word toward us walking in His ways. How powerful is His Word in our lives? How everlasting? How life-giving?That hammer swings both ways. It would be a mistake to not take Him at what He’s speaking over your life, over your people, over you city, your state, your nation…To stop swinging is to miss.
