Rather kick up the prophetic dust than shake it off!

You can do a few things with dust. You can kick it up, or you can shake it off. The Lord's prophets excel in kicking it up. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and their fellow prophets often made unpopular statements in the Name of God. Even today such prophetic voices don't necessarily win popularity contests in church or in the world. I'm not talking about self-appointed prophets who are actually undercover fortune tellers and who tell people exactly what they want to hear. Jeremiah 23 warns us against such false representatives of God. Contemporary prophetic voices are vital. Such prophets don't always say what people want to hear, but rather what they should hear. To prophesy is to bring God's will into the here and now through the light of the Bible. True prophets are pioneers. They don't only break down, they also build up. They are living bridges over which others can walk on their way to God. Perhaps it is better to kick up prophetic dust than to constantly shake it off. Rather let people feel uncomfortably close to God than feeling abandoned by Him. Abandonment is His very last option.