God recently started speaking to me about a huge harvest coming to America. I believe it will be like what many people have been praying for but it may not come how they were expecting it. The way in which God is bringing this harvest is through much difficulty that I have written about in some of my other blog posts. I believe that God can use his punishment and his judgment and still bring blessing. God has been impressing Jeremiah 24, Jeremiah 29 and Revelation 14 on my heart over the past couple of months. It began with Revelation 14 which reads,
“14 I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man[b] with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Then another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud, “Take your sickle and reap, because the time to reap has come, for the harvest of the earth is ripe.” 16 So he who was seated on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.”
The way I saw America being a ripe place to harvest was out of the adversity that we will be facing in the coming months. This isn’t to scare anyone but to bring hope that in the midst of trials and tribulations God’s overall plan is to prosper and not to harm. I saw an image of people on a small rickety propeller plane. This plane was going through extreme turbulence and the lights were flickering on and off. In that moment people who were once strangers were holding each other and comforting each other and the one thing I noticed was the unity. This picture God gave me represents how we as a nation are all in the same boat (plane). We may not be able to control the turbulence that comes our way but the way we support each other and lean on God in a new way is what will bring this mighty harvest.
Part of the reason I see a mighty harvest in America is because I see a new level of dependence on God. People who have never called on the name of the Lord will be on their knees in this new season for the very first time. Our environment and what we will witness in the coming days will bring people to their knees. I saw hope like a lighthouse. People will be looking for something bigger than themselves in the midst of chaos and the hope that Jesus brings will drive them to that light.
God was speaking to me about Jeremiah 24 and 29. He was speaking about how it is possible to still thrive in a tumultuous situation. Just like in Jeremeiah 29:5-8
5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. 6 Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. 7 Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” 8
I feel like God is speaking a similar message now to America that he spoke to the israelites In the book of Jeremiah. Even though God is bringing a level of exile and judgment to our nations does not mean that people will not prosper. God is sharing in his word of how we can still experience God’s blessing in the midst of adversity and he talks about it in Jeremiah 24:7
In Jeremiah 24 Jeremiah see’s a visions of 2 baskets of figs. One basket is full of healthy ripe figs to eat and another basket is filled with rotten figs that cannot be eaten. He explains that the healthy basket of figs are the people who return to God with all of their heart. He explains the destruction for the rotten figs such as the unjust leaders and rulers at that time.
“I will plant them and not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.”
The key difference between the people God prospered and saw as healthy ripe figs and the bad figs were the people who RETURNED to God with their whole hearts. Just like the Israelites had gone astray from God and had been deceived by false prophets God is also calling America to return to him with their whole heart.
In this next season people that we never expected to come to christ will be coming to christ. People will be pouring into the churches to seek God. This is a warning call to the church and to christians ahead of time. We have to be prepared for new people and make room for all different backgrounds of people to be welcomed into the house of God. Do not turn away these young believers, and welcome their questions and their wrestlings.
It is also a call to all christians and children of God to step up in leadership and wake up to the call of God on their life. A Lot of times we think we are unqualified or we don’t have a big enough title to minister to people or speak a word of encouragement. In this next season we will need all hands on deck. God is equipping christians to step up and be the hands and feet of Jesus. Supermarkets will be a place of prayer, parks will be a place of prayer, Ordinary spaces will be places of prayer. People will constantly be in need whether it be physically or emotionally and God is equipping any and all believers to step up and meet needs wherever they might see them. It will not be a time to sit back and pass people off to those that are more “Qualified”. Many will be forced to step up and step out of their comfort zones in order to help others.
I also feel in this next season some people will be called to go to other nations and many will be called to stay. God will bless both people but the biggest thing God desires is obedience. If God is calling you to move your whole life abroad, GO! If God is calling you to stay where it seems impossible to thrive, STAY. There is blessing in obedience and I am reminded of Deuteronomy 28:1-3,6
“If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. 2 All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God:”
3 You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country.
6 You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out.