Human's fail without the guidance of the Holy Spirit
Brief note: This week, we would like to share a testimony with you and we allowed our Brother Thom Hale to share with us exactly what he went through after he received a 'prophetic' word from a sister. Our Brother Thom is a very humble person with a giving spirit. In fact, we made an appeal for a job to our American readers on this blog on two occasions (our appeal in the “The Eternal Benefit of Godly Correction” article) with no success. Now, before our Brother Thom's departure to South America, he did share with us that he was leaving home for a few months. After receiving a word from the Lord for him and our hearts troubled by his decision, we released him while we pledged to pray for them and to keep in touch. To us as a family and ministry, our Brother Thom and his dear wife is like family and we were privileged to share their joy and pain throughout this trying journey. Therefore, this Brothers faith, humility, love and dependence on the Lord served as a strong encouragement to us personally. We sincerely pray that you be blessed by his testimony, without undermining what he and his dear wife went through. The Lord has tests for all of us, the thing is, would you be able to survive it? They did and are moving on strongly in the Lord.
I hope this article will serve both as warning and encouraging to our readers, my brothers and sisters in Christ.
Briefly, I met Brother Glenn in 2011, shortly prior to learning of another ministry where the Lord was using two sisters to deliver his messages through visions and letters.
We all see that the world is getting darker and darker every passing moment of the day. Without a doubt, we are living in a time that has been spoken by the Lord thousands of years ago. We are seeing the bible being fulfilled during our life time. This, however, stirs up a desire within us to know more, to know what the future holds, to know the heart of God. At the same time, this opens us up to false visions, dreams, and teachings. My brothers and sisters, we are living in a time of high deception. Please heed my voice and test all things with the written word of God.
Furthermore, let me be transparent here. I am not speaking against this ministry or any other ministry I may have connected with. Being that no ministry is without issues as a result of the flesh, I can say with confidence that mistakes are made sometimes. We are all imperfect people and what unifies us is love and respect for one another. As we know, we all have flaws and the enemy knows this and he will use this to his advantage.
God's Will Never Fails, Human Will Fails
Please allow me to briefly share our (my wife and my) experience. Before I do that, I want it to be known that I am not labeling anyone as a false prophet, only the word given to us (my wife and I)
as being false. In 2012, I received word from a dear sister (name withheld) that the Lord would have me included with a group to do missions in South America. I had recently retired from my IT job two years prior to the time of receiving this word through this sister. My wife was not working and we
were living from my pension.
When I made this prophetic word known to my wife, needless to say, she was greatly troubled. I, on the other hand, knew this had to be from the Lord. You see, I had accepted this as a true word from the Lord and we had no choice but to obey. I failed to hear the counsel and wisdom of my wife. Most of all, I failed to test this through the word of God. There was much doubt and fear associated with this word. Well, brothers and sisters, can you imagine another sister giving your husband such a word and he acting on it without your full consent? Thank God for grace and a loving spouse who has proven to be a real treasure to me. I must say, this decision to act on this word almost dismantled our marriage. We spent three months in South America, no mission work, no real plan, cold and miserable.
This word came with many red flags but I refused to heed them. One thing said in particular was that those going on this mission trip were to remain silent. Disclosing this to family and friends could jeopardize the Lord's work, we were told. Nonetheless, we let it be known to a few family members that we were leaving but we did not say how long we would be gone. To make a long story short, this mission trip was spawned from a vision and false word that negatively impacted many lives. How can anyone fall for something like this, you ask?
Having a zeal for God but not according to knowledge is very dangerous. Seeking visions and a word from the Lord via third party rather than personally exercising ones own faith can also be dangerous. I am not condemning this because I am a recipient of a word of encouragement from the Lord through Charis and this has since improved my relationship with the Lord.
What I am saying is it's essential we all seek a personal relationship with the Lord through prayer and daily bible reading. We are all susceptible to being deceived by the enemy. Trust me, the word I received back in 2012 from this particular sister marked a very painful chapter in our lives. By the grace of the Lord, we left South America with our lives intact, but at an unnecessary financial lose.
The Financial Hardship we Endured
While the struggles are continuing as a result of the decision I took, we are continuing in prayer knowing that the Lord will rescue us out of these struggles.
Like I mentioned earlier, I retired from my IT job after 24 years of service. Even though my wife was not working, I reached a point in my career where I simply wanted change. With my daily tasks becoming mundane, work became stressful and less challenging, work morale was low and the work environment tense at times. This exhaustion made it easy for me to take an early retirement. We (You and your wife or company...please clarify) mutually agreed that I would opt for early retirement even though it would mean paying higher taxes on all monies withdrawn. My pension funded our trip to South America and sustained us for a few years.
Additionally,prior to seeing my pension totally dwindle from the bank, we launched an online business and the income generated from the business was not enough to keep us afloat. Nevertheless, we eventually found ourselves at the mercy of a few family and friends whom we greatly praise the Lord for.
Particularly, I will say, through an act of kindness and brotherly care Helping: A Christian Way of Life we've been blessed by the prayers and support of this ministry and other brethren who serves in this ministry. Their love and fear for the Lord is evident through their works and caring attitudes, and this is fondly treasured and remembered by my wife and I.
If there is any of you who can relate with what we are saying about having to rely on others then you know how stressful and humbling it is to depend on others for financial support, humbling as it maybe such moments are scripturally provided for (Hebrews 13:16). The spiritual benefit we reap through this experience build our trust and faith in the Lord as well as ridding us of any pride (Proverbs 16:5).
Job Hunting Stress
Moreover, I spent almost the last 2 years (2014 -2016) seeking employment and this time of testing would further prove my faith in Christ. Prior to my quest for job hunting, I was radiating with confidence that I would not struggle to find a job given the bachelor's degree I hold from a highly esteemed university in the area of IT, which is a much needed profession. However, as I started my job searching and noticing that I received no telephone calls nor any interviews, my confidence changed to fear and depression.
Seeing my plight, the Lord moved on the heart of a dear sister who took the time to update my resume and give it a very professional appeal. Praise God for sending us help when we needed it. About a year into my job search, I decided to obtain an unarmed security license. After obtaining the license I was blessed with a job working security at an upscaled residential community. This job proved to test my humility as well as patience. After about six months working as a security I decided to drive Uber and Lyft. Both these jobs merely made it possible to cover basic utilities. Since we were unable to make mortgage payments our home eventually resulted to being in foreclosure.
Job Breakthrough
Now, there is a silver lining to this story, Praise the Lord Almighty! After months of persistent prayers in August 2016, the Lord opened a door for me to return to my place of employment, the same company I took early retirement from, WOW, God is awesome! Having a full time and steady income is a wonderful feeling.
Furthermore, brothers and sister, I truly believe that our financial position is a result of me receiving prophetic words and visions but failing to test all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21). There's no doubt in my mind that the Lord still gives visions, dreams and words of prophecy to guide the body of believers (1 Thessalonians 5:20). "And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions" (Joel 2:28 NIV).
Concluding Exhortation
The Lord says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anu man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20 NIV).
Warning! There are many voices in the land, therefore discern the Lord's voice. Read His word and do not to be swayed by every wind of doctrine, my brothers and sisters (Ephesians 4:14). This article does not reveal the complete hurt and damage caused to my family and others like me whose good intentions were taken advantage of thinking that we were showing obedience to what was thought to be the Lord's words. If this article should convince even one person from veering off in the wrong direction then it has served its purpose, that is to encourage every believer to test all things and believe the written word of God.
I'd like to thank God for Brother Glenn, his wife Desiree and family along with members of this ministry, their experiences and obedience to the Lord serves as a great faith booster.
I am confident that the Lord has been using Charis and this family whom I regard as humble and precious souls. My prayer is that He will continue to use this family to prepare his people for his soon return.
We would like to extend an invitation to anyone who does not know the Lord Jesus Christ yet, or of you are not born again, to pray our suggested prayer on this link
by faith and follow the Lord (Matthew 4:19). You may also contact us for any questions or comments about this article or our ministry.
God Bless and trust him in all things,
Thom Hale
