The Lord spoke to us prophetically on Jan 21, 2007 during the Sunday message entitled 'The Battle Ax' that what the church is doing is 'too small' and that our chuch will be too small for the people that God is bringing in(Isa.49:6,19,20). We have had such prophecies of increase before and so we did not actually pay much attention to this recent word. It was inspiring and encouraging though but we did not expect anything to happen.
It started the sunday after. We had 15 visitors. Then the next sunday, we had 35. Three weeks after the prophecy, the church saw a sudden increase of 80 new people. Our regular English service attendance is about 200. That's a 40% increase in 21 days. More chairs were set up and the church was busy ministering to the new comers. The fervor in worship has risen and the response to the Lord and His word has been wonderful. When God shows up, things happen and people's lives change.
We know that this move of God is from the Lord himself. It is not the brilliance of our strategies nor our mastery of the ministry. Rather it is the Lord fulfiling the word he promised. Faith has now risen to a new high and expectancy for God is intensifying.
During Elisha's ministry, Samaria was under siege by Ben Hadad the king of Aram. The famine was so bad that the people were eating human flesh for survival. Then Elisha gave a word that there will abundance for the Israelites 24 hours from the time he spoke. Nobody believed him BUT it happened according the word of the Lord through him. Yes God spoke and in His time He acted and acted swiftly and effectively. Truly the glory belongs to God alone. (2 Kings 6:24-7:20)
This is just the beginning of what God wants to do in the church for the community we are serving. Our hearts are faith filled yet humble in posture and our lives are furthered yielded to Him to advance His cause to bring Him maximum glory.
God surprised us. He will surprise you too. So don't abandon the dreams that God gave you and the promises He made to you. Faithfully cling on to them even when slapped by unbelief. When the time comes for God to act, He really acts in a big way that will take you by surprise.
