“I always THOUGHT I was stoopid. Pamela saw my sparkles and spoke the words which set me free. <3”.
A new friend of mine made the above quote.
This is not a new concept to me, Exhorters who sparkle, or at least, are designed to sparkle.
This friend for a season may not have been aware of the reality that she sparkles. But she does. And it brings me great joy when Exhorters grab an old of that third part of their design.
The other vignette, though no less indicative of Exhorters and their sparkle, comes from a deep and sometimes-difficult place in my memory.
I have an old friend, who is an Exhorter with an old calling to missions work: nation-affecting work.
Many years ago, while we were conversing over Scrabble, she related to me a trip to IHOP in Kansas City, and a series of prophetic words that she had received, and they all said a common thing.
“You sparkle..”
And over the course of the next several years, she received a number of words from various people, including a word that pertains to all the positive parts of the Letter to Thyatira. The gift of the morning star. Influence in the nations. The knowledge and encouragement that all her current work at the time of the prophecy exceeded the first works.
Years later, she, like many friends of mine, has left the path she was designed to trailblaze, and though designed to sparkle, which she does, she doesn’t have the same vibrancy.
I pose these two vignettes side-by-side, not to shame anyone, but as a reminder that some realities shine through regardless of differences because of design.
There are three parts to the Fourth day of Creation, which is a good descriptor of certain qualities of the Exhorter, and two of those get mentioned and highlighted.
The Sun influences us by providing a source of heat, light, and orbit. Life.
The Moon, while it does play a part as a satellite, influences us by affecting the tides as it tugs and pulls this way and that on our waters, ignorant of whether or not this inconveniences us. Dominion.
Then there are the Stars.
Thrown into that verse as an afterthought.
Yeah, we are good at exegeting the sun and moon, and we forget the stars, unless on a cloudless night with a new moon or no moon and clouds to obstruct our view.
And if we don’t live in a city.
And…
And…
But, get that into you.
The STARS!!!
What a wonder they are on a cloudless, light-free night.
Red shift, blue-shift.
Parralax.
Pulsar. A rapidly spinning neutron star.
Quasars.
Quarks and leptons. I am not a String Theory guy. Oops. Sorry, that is particle physics. Wrong field.
Back to the right field.
Galaxies, black holes, white dwarves, red giants like Betelgeuse, Big G…
And questions from Dr. Glander’s class like, “How many newtons do I exert on the chocolate sundae?”
That last question is a question of universal gravitation, because objects exert force and gravitation on each other.
All those sorts of things were spun into existence on the Fourth Day.
Glory of outer glories.
And this is the glory of the Exhorter’s potential and capacity.
And, yes, the capacity is given for better or worse, with the full knowledge of the bad that can happen…
And the good…
Pardon the physics pun, but Exhorters rightly should understand the gravity of their situation.
And they should understand the glories of it as well.
So, yes, you sparkle, dear Exhorters,
You were made that way. So when you receive that word from others, it is bang-on-the-dot. And it is a reminder that we dare not forget the massive deposit Father has placed in us.
Exhorters carry a lot of influence in their words, and when they are deeply wounded, those words can mean negative things for them and others in the gravity of their words and actions.
But as Exhorters fight from a knowledge of Father’s great affection for them, work through the deliverance Father intends, and push back the hell that attacks them full-on, the Father of Lights will respond with his Reality, and brings wholeness to the wounded Exhorter.
We call that wholeness by a singular word.
Shalom.
May the L-rd bless you and keep you.
May the L-rd make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
May the L-rd lift up his countenance upon you and give you shalom.
Numbers 6:24-26
As an exhorter I find your words to be full of hope and warning…which is exactly what I know I need. Yes..the sparkles are there and are SO glorious and dazzling…so will we allow ourselves to shine in order to reflect THE Light or will we settle for trying to get the glory for our wounded hearts, souls and minds? As I see it, that is the question and your words give hope and caution to those who have been given this beautiful gift. Thank you for your honor and honesty. I appreciate the way you can celebrate God’s intention while also seeing the pitfalls and traps which are so easy to ensnare us in such a particular way.
Dazzle on, friend. Dazzle on.
I love this! Thanks for being kind to our Exhorter Tribe. Real and kind.