I like
spending time with prophets. They inspire me. Their company makes me feel like
a real man with strong passions about God and man, holiness and sin, love and
hate, zeal and laziness. I can’t be indifferent to what they share with me
because there is such fire in their words. The revelation they are living by
enlightens my spirit. In the fellowship of the prophets I am taking to a higher
level of existence. They make me realize that I am not only a human being, but
that I am a man of God, a servant of God. They make me understand that I am
living for something greater than human fame and success. They make me aware of
that I am living for something greater than myself. I realize that I exist,
live and move in God who is my source and my end, the very meaning of my life.
Through the insight I receive from spending time with the prophets enlarge my
life.

The other
day I spent some time with the Hebrew prophet Habakkuk. He has faced difficult
times. He tells me how he went to God with the bad things happening to him and
his people. I am amazed how frankly he spoke to the Almighty. He, a mere human
being, confronted the Holy One! I listened intently to him sharing how he was
complaining to the Lord of Heaven and Earth. He took a stand at his watch for
God in the situation and he stationed himself on the ramparts as he was looking
to see what the Lord would tell him, and what answer God would give to his
complaints.

It was
exciting to hear him share the Lord’s answer to him. He was told to write down
the vision he saw, the revelation of the will and purpose of God given to him.
He was even told to make the revelation plain and easy to understand for
others. Habakkuk shared with me that Gold told him that the vision was for
a future time, it described the end, and it would be fulfilled. Even if it
seemed slow in coming, he was to wait patiently, for it would surely take
place. For as the waters fill the sea, the
earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the Lord.^[1]

When the prophet Habakkuk is sharing with me I become aware of a
prophetic realism that seems to enable him to endure hard times and to overcome
great obstacles in life. In the midst of what looks as total failure he is not
downcast nor is he withdrawing to lofty fantasies. His prophetic realism makes
him trust God and turn his heart to prayer. In that way he is able to be a
light in the darkness of difficult times and he becomes a beacon of hope to his
people.

I was really touched when he uttered these powerful words:

Even though the fig
trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the
olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks
die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my
salvation! The Sovereign Lord is
my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.^[2]

This is
what I call prophetic realism. The fig trees have no blossoms. There are no
grapes on the vines. The olive crop has failed. The fields lie empty and
barren. The flocks die in the fields. The cattle barns are empty. He is
certainly not closing his eyes to the reality he sees in the society in which
he lives. Actually, he is painting a very realistic picture in the proper dark
colours. In spite of this bad situation he refused to despair. His prophetic
realism caused him to rejoice in the Lord and to be very joyful in God his
Saviour. The Sovereign Lord was his
strength and his supply! Therefore he felt as surefooted as a deer,
and he was able to tread upon the heights by the prophetic anointing of the Holy
Spirit.

O Lord, give us more of this prophetic realism. Anoint our eyes to see
you when ordinary people only see calamities! Let the prophetic realism make us
surefooted that we may move upon spiritual heights and make people aware of the
glory of the Lord in everyday life!