The practical wisdom of The Preacher reminds us that “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven” (Ecc. 3:1 ESV). In praxis, this truth is challenging because the Father has fixed seasons and times by His own authority (Acts 1:7). Waiting for the fulfillment of a season or time, especially one that has been proclaimed by prophetic utterance, can make us prone to doubt that the word truly came from God, or even push the word from our cognitive memory. Such was the case with a prophetic word regarding our eldest son, Chris.
When Chris was about eleven years old, my wife and I took him to a revival meeting in our home city. The evangelist who spoke that night had a strong prophetic anointing on his life and called Chris out of the crowd. The word he spoke over our son was short and simple, yet carried a “seasons and times” implication, given his age.
“I see you standing in front of thousands of young people leading worship.”
Chris, every bit eleven at this point, snickered at the word and said nothing to us about it. He had barely picked up a guitar at that point in his life and had shown little interest in any kind of worship music. As a Pastor’s kid myself, I had received my fair share of prophetic words in my youth regarding my future. Thus, I purposely chose not to press the issue with my son, but rather let the seasons and times work out in the Father’s authority.
Around the age of thirteen, Chris started honing his guitar skills and singing around the house. Soon, he was asked by his youth pastor to lead a song for the weekly youth service. From there, of his own accord, Chris began listening to worship music and participating at a deeper level in his youth group. My wife and I never mentioned the prophetic word from two years earlier. In fact, it was slowly fading from memory as the times and seasons passed.
By age sixteen, Chris started rotating as a guitar player for our main worship team, occasionally being asked to lead a song for the congregation. Like most teenagers, however, he hit a faith wall in his latter high school years and started to go off the rails in his journey with God. By his senior year he was questioning everything about God and faith, hanging around with atheist friends, and it was in that moment that the prophetic word from years earlier came back to me. I told my wife, Gwen, that as his parents, we had a responsibility to steward that prophetic word in prayer. Further, we were to position our son for his destiny, whenever the Father would deem the time and season right for fulfillment.
We sent him to a youth camp in Southern California where he was invited to help lead worship. During those two weeks of camp, God showed up in Chris’ life and when he came home, he was a different young man. He had purpose and direction and while he was still wrestling with his questions, he had encountered a living God who was positioning him for the destiny that had been prophesied years earlier.
In the fall of 2012, Chris enrolled at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix as a Christian studies major. He auditioned for the chapel worship team and his first year he played guitar only. By his junior year, he was chosen to be one of the chapel worship leaders, and what happened next brought everything full circle. Gwen and I went to his first chapel service as a worship leader and the GCU arena was packed to capacity with over 6000 students in attendance. Chris stepped to the microphone and led the student body of GCU in worship. I turned to my wife and said, “do you remember the word he got at that revival meeting when he was eleven? It’s being fulfilled right before our eyes.” When the service was over, I hugged my son and asked him if he remembered the word. He didn’t, but it didn’t matter. God, in His perfect timing, had brought us through many challenging times, difficult seasons and fulfilled His promise. Always remember this when it comes to the gifts of the Spirit:
“And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9 ESV)