Prophet Sharing, Part One by Charles R. Swindoll Amos 3:7-8 Have you noticed? Some people have the uncanny ability to see so far into tomorrow, you feel like youre operating in the shadows of yesterday. While you and I are evaluating where weve been, those forward-thinking people are forever exploring where were going. Instead of reacting, theyre on the offense . . . probing, innovating, analyzing, and warning---always warning. While we search for ways to settle in and find comfort on our sofa-like surroundings, they are confronting the consequences of reality, facing the music before we even realize the prelude has begun. Prophets, I suppose we could call them . . . seers who frown while others yawn . . . restless, troubled, contemplative souls. Theyre not unlike the characters in a thought-jabbing cartoon published years ago. The whole message is contained in a single frame as the figures of a man and a woman are falling upside down through space. Gertrude, says the man, we cant go on living like this! Those who slumber in the sleepy, warm twilight of sundown, finding a great deal of security in the mediocrity and predictability of sameness, cannot bring themselves to see either potential danger or possible tragedy. But those who see their world adrift, moving all too rapidly toward a bleak and disastrous dawn, shout across the chasm of complacency, We cant go on living like this! Perhaps they are not upside down after all. They just seem that way. Thinking ahead keeps them topsy-turvy in their heads. While chatty, laughing tourists are taking snapshots of the lowlands with rose-colored filters, those lean, tough-minded climbers have scaled the rugged peaks. It gives them a stark view of whats ahead. Tomorrows storm keeps them from enjoying todays lull. Theyre hard to live with, sometimes impossible to understand. Robert Greenleaf, in his classic book Servant Leadership, recalls a story which grew out of Beethovens composition, the C# Minor Quartet, Opus 131. When first played in the composers lifetime, it appeared to be unlike anything the master had ever written before. Ludwig, a friend asked, what has happened? We dont understand you anymore. It is reported that Beethoven, with a sigh, replied, I have said all that I have to say to my contemporaries; now I am speaking to the future. If you are one of those seers, a tomorrow-thinker in a world of yesterday-dwellers, take heart. Realize that you must be true to yourself. While you may not be applauded for your warnings, you will be rewarded for your efforts. Just be patient with those who lack your zest and zeal. Say your piece, make your contribution, shout, if you must . . . but keep in mind that prophets were seldom heeded, rarely thanked, and never popular. Well talk more about this topic tomorrow.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 04:13:46 +0000
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