A Prophet’s Question
Have you ever wondered if you have rejected a message from God because it was delivered by a person you have dismissed as being too righteous, or too holy, or too plain, or too strange, or too this or too that?
“You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit! Was there ever a prophet your fathers did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him — you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.” —Acts 7:51-53
A few years ago, I was having a conversation with a wise man in which he said, “People always reject prophets.”
He does not know it, but periodically I think deeply about his words. He motivated me to study the prophets in the Bible and the situations surrounding their rejection. I learned why Jeremiah is sometimes referred to as the “Weeping Prophet”. Empathy will make your cries gut-wrenching and ironically silent at the same time.
It makes me uneasy to think that there may have been times when I have rejected, or will reject, a Word delivered to me by a prophet. Do you wonder about this? Were there times when you believe you had a God-inspired Word that was rejected by people, by fellow Christians? Where do people talk about this? I once heard the saying, “It is tough to be friends with a true prophet.” It may be, but a true prophet will lead you right. Now, that is my REAL question, to both myself and to you, “Don’t you want to be led right?” Yes, I do!
