The Unexpected Voice of Awakening
God platforms voices that come from obscure and overlooked places.
Influencers. Celebrities. Politicians. Rulers. The Elite. The Powerful.
We often look to those at the top of industries, governments, churches and movements to see “what is happening.”
God loves to work through the unexpected and overlooked. I was having a conversation with my wise father about God’s ways in raising up voices. He said, “God is often using people that we wouldn’t choose to carry out His purposes. Look to John the Baptist in Luke 3. It’s like Luke lists the mucky-mucks and who’s who of the day in the government and religions and almost in a bypassing way says, “the Word of the Lord came to John in the wilderness.”
“In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Luke 3:1-3 NIV
John was the relative of Jesus and started His ministry right before Him. John, like Jesus had about 30 years of preparation before he started his ministry. 30 years of obscurity, of training, of development and of hiddenness. Dr. List, a mentor, has often shared with other leaders and I that no one is truly hidden before the Lord. How true with John the Baptist, how true it is of the servants of old who God has raised up to be His mouthpiece.
John was the one “preparing the way for the Lord (Luke 3:4).” The preparer had to be prepared. As many preachers have said Jesus had 30 years of preparation for 3 years of ministry (John’s was similar) and we want 3 years of preparation for 30 years of ministry.
What did God do in John in those 30 years? Did John trust that God would open doors for him and his ministry? Did he carry for years a calling and understanding that he would be a voice of awakening in his generation?
To the preachers, leaders, artists, writers, singers and creatives that feel overlooked and forgotten, you are never hidden before the Lord. You might be unseen by humanity, but you are not unseen by God. Don’t despise your times of hiddenness. Let God do a deep work so that when he platforms your voice you don’t fizzle out like the flavor of the month. The taller the building, the deeper the foundation thats needed.
Your voice is needed in the place you are called to and God will get you there for His glory and His eternal purposes.