Have you ever heard what we sometimes call a “hunch”, or a “gut” feeling or just an uneasiness in your inner man about something? Or perhaps you had a random dream and unable to piece what it meant?
Standing at a passport control booth at the airport, I could see visibly irritated travelers. Taking late night flights can sometimes be exhausting especially when the earlier hours were packed with activities. Two stood out, but only because they were directly ahead of me on the que.
“What do you mean the government site is down yet our flight is in 2 hours?” one man quipped.
The airline attendant visibly worried, attempted to hide his agitation but his trembling lip gave him away as he spoke. “No Sir, they are trying to verify your visa, sir before we issue the ticket.”
This response only antagonized the two gentlemen who seemed to be travelling to close a business deal of a lifetime. The attendant continued to painfully explain that the issue was not on his end but the country of final destination.
“But isn’t that same government that issued us with visas a few days ago?” The towering of the two men continued to roar at the attendant.
I reckon they must have been very annoyed when they landed, only to discover that they needed to take another covid test at the airport, despite boarding the plane with a negative test result.
Why would a government want to verify again and again details of not just any foreigner traveling into a country but collect volumes of information in general? Through various means, government intelligence agencies gather information about foreign persons, places, events, and activities that is needed but cannot be obtained- through publicly available sources or diplomatic contacts.
Could the so called “hunch” or “gut feeling” or that random dream one may have be- a prompting by God when he is disclosing some form of intelligence to us?
As we walk with God, he will trust us with more of His mind and His heart as one would share with a friend. The same way we would confide in our close friends and family not expecting them to do anything about what we share. Abraham was God’s friend thus when God intended to destroy Sodom and Gomora he said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing ? Abraham knew his nephew lived in that city and talked God out of his plan. “Shall you destroy the city if you find 50 righteous people, if you find 45 people ,30 people ,20 people and finally will you destroy the city if you find 10 righteous people?” God relented. (We can read this story in the book of Genesis 18:16-33)
In other times God may disclose to us information for us to cancel the plans of the enemy. In the old times a city would be fortified by building a wall around it, thick enough to have houses or rooms within such walls. Watchmen would be stationed on such walls to look out for any enemy approaching the city. God may allow some people to get those hunches or that feeling in the gut, because He has stationed them as a watchman-akin to how the intelligence agencies help to counter threats to a nation or- help in policy making to bolster areas with gaps- with the information gathered. In Isaiah 62:6 we read …O Jerusalem, I have posted watchmen on your walls; they will pray day and night, continually. Take no rest, all you who pray to the LORD.
In other times, God may disclose to us information for us to pray His purposes through or perhaps it’s to give us the much reassurance needed for us to take the next step of faith. God did not want Israelites to boast that they won the battle against the Midianites by their own strength. He therefore instructed Gideon to cut down the size of the army. Those that trembled and those that knelt down to drink were released from duty leaving only 300 men;those that had lapped water like dogs in cupped hands. To give Gideon the assurance on how he would conquer with such a small army, God sent him to the camp of the Midianites at night to gather more intelligence.
We read in Judges 7:13-16 that… Gideon arrived just as a man was telling a friend his dream. “I had a dream,” he was saying. “A round loaf of barley bread came tumbling into the Midianite camp. It struck the tent with such force that the tent overturned and collapsed.” His friend responded, “This can be nothing other than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, the Israelite. God has given the Midianites and the whole camp into his hands.” When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he bowed down and worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, “Get up! The Lord has given the Midianite camp into your hands.” We can read the rest of the story and how they won the battle in the remaining verses.
Both Gideon and the camp of the Midianites had intelligence on what would happen in the upcoming battle. Gideon acted on it because God had already given him victory and confirmed it through the enemy’s dream. Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets-we read this in Amos 3:7. God often ensures that we are a step ahead with the spiritual intelligence He gives us.While not everyone maybe called in the office of a prophet, Paul told us to pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that we may prophesy. (1 Corinthians 14:1-5).We can then agree with God in prayer based on what we see or information He gives us in whichever way,be it a hunch, gut feeling or a dream.
As we grow in our relationship with God, we can enjoy the blessing of Him not only sharing information to guide us in our daily lives,but also circumstances beyond us for us to pray. Perhaps it’s a transaction that you are involved in that is to go wrong and He allows you to see ahead of time for to you prepare better. Or you sense a discomfort that leads you to call a sibling asking them to postpone a trip at a particular time. Or you have a dream involving a national leader in some form of difficulty.
…….Will you choose to respond in prayer when the Spirit of God speaking to you? Will you act on the information He gives you by prayerfully partnering with God?
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