One day as summer was approaching
a couple of years ago, I made a mistake. I don’t mean the kind of mistake where
you’ve done something wrong and now you’ve got to face a consequence, because
it wasn’t like that. No, this is one of those mistakes any seriously spiritual
person, honestly seeking after God, will eventually make—and we make it because
we are either ignorant or naïve. I think I was a little bit of both, with a
dash of the old Janzen arrogance thrown in for good measure. Looking back now,
I realize that Jesus wanted me to make the mistake, and thus did little to warn
me…sigh…such is love.

The tale begins in a church—as such things
ought to—where I sat enjoying the teaching of one of my favourite prophetic
teachers. It was Jon Paul Jackson for those who must know, though what he said
at the time has little to do with my story. I was minding my own business,
paying attention, when Holy Spirit rudely interrupted. He brought to mind a
frustration that had been growing in me for quite a while and seemed to pour a
little extra energy into it. I sat there squirming in my seat trying to ignore him,
but as you can imagine that only made things worse. He began to speak. I’ll
reproduce the conversation below…the Holy Spirit will be in Italics and I will
be in normal:

“What
is that frustration you’ve been feeling in your spirit?”

“You know what it is, Lord.”

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