The Bird House

1 Peter 1:10-11 NKJV. “Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you. Searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow.”

I have been stuck on these two verses for some time now. Read them again and imagine yourself trying to fully understand what the Holy Spirit is saying to you right now. What have you been pondering and asking God to give you full understanding of? Consider Proverbs 25:2 NKJV  “It is the Glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of a king is to search out a matter.” The reason I have been stuck on these verses, and you should be too, is how are we any different than the prophets of old? The Spirit of Christ (the Holy Spirit) is now in us, speaking to us in ways that require us to “inquire and search carefully” for what the Spirit is indicating. Do you see the similarities we face?

Years ago (mid 90’s) God started giving me divine appointments OUTSIDE the church. The leader of the Vineyard churches, John Wimber, had coined the phrase “prophetic evangelism” and that’s a good description for what I was doing. I had actually been doing it for years but Wimber gave me a greater biblical understanding of the value and validity of this type ministry. The pattern over time became obvious. God would give me a vision or a dream with details in it that I could “search carefully” for. When I had my “this is that” moment I would simply ask the Holy Spirit what I was to say or do. This would happen often at my side business and even sometimes at my firefighter job. I obviously had more latitude in my side business. As a firefighter I typically just prayed for the people or the situation.

My favorite prophetic evangelism experience still impacts me today. I could have easily missed it and nearly did. I woke up one morning with a residential power washing job to do. As I awoke I clearly saw a vision of a little wooden bird house that was white with a green roof. It meant nothing to me but I was committed to searching carefully for what it meant with no idea what might trigger my “this is that” moment. As I was washing the front porch of the house later that day I noticed the tops of the rails were green and the rails themselves were white…reminding me of the vision. My first clue…I started looking around the house for a bird house but I never saw one. I was confused and, honestly, a little frustrated with God…”Why do you make this so difficult? Just give me the word and who to say it to and how. Stop with these treasure hunts already.” I had pretty much given up on gaining understanding of why I saw that bird house, when the lady of the house started talking to me as I loaded up my equipment to leave. She was pregnant with her 3rd child and her husbands mother who was dying of cancer was coming to live with them…I began to feel the burden and the fear she was feeling that it would all overcome her. First I asked her if I could pray for her, her family, and her mother-in-law before I left…Excitedly, she said, “Please do!”

Before I started praying for her I decided to go with the bird house vision for some inexplicable reason. I explained to her what I saw that morning and how the front porch rails were the same colors so I started praying for her home to be like the bird house I saw…a safe place for her young children to grow and for her mother-in-law to feel safe here in this warm and comfortable “bird house”. I prayed for her to be strengthened by an increase in grace to deal with every challenge. I was feeling so stupid for throwing that bird house vision in and trying to force it to fit. In my mind it did not really fit well, but she was balling her eyes out as I prayed. I was glad the prayer touched her but the why was totally confusing me. This was just silly, right? When I finished praying and she stopped sobbing a little she looked up at me and asked, “Do you know what I do to make extra money?” I said, “no” She said, “I build bird houses.”  Mind blown… Found the the treasure when I least expected it. She worked on them in her basement but there were none around the house. As Jesus said, “where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” You’re my treasure, Lord…

Jesus said the hairs of our heads are numbered. God is intimately involved in our lives…more so than we will ever know on this side. That day and several days since I pictured God in her basement thoroughly enjoying watching her build those bird houses with the skills He gave her and her heart’s desire to build them. Why is this my favorite experience? Because it best revealed the heart of God the Father to me…that we are His treasure and He should be ours….and I had to “inquire and search carefully” to experience it. Worth it. Always.