a different kind of prophetic

A self-fulfilling prophecy is, according to a trusty source called Wikipedia:

“a prediction that directly or indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy itself, due to positive feedback belief and behavior.”

This concept of the self-fulfilling prophecy is something I learned about in Social Psychology class. Pretty much, it means that you can believe something about a situation that isn’t true and act in ways that reflect this false belief and that can actually cause your belief to become true. For example, say you are about to meet a girl named Kim. Someone is spreading lies about Kim and tells you that she has a huge attitude problem. Before you even meet the girl, you don’t even like her. So when you finally meet Kim, you treat her poorly, which causes her to have an attitude with you. And then you say to yourself, “I knew she was a rude person.” That's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

 Self-fulfilling prophecies are a pretty common psychological phenomenon. And as I was praying earlier, I felt like God was warning me about one type in particular.

Let me explain. I’ve had amazing intimate encounters with God these past few days and I’ve never felt more on fire for God. But, I realized, that in the back of my mind, I feared losing that passion for Him and, in a sense, burning out (as I have many times before). As I was praying, God began to show me that you don’t burn out when you obey Him. You can’t. When you are obedient to God, God moves in your life and uses you to minister to others. And out of that, passion for Him is birthed.

On the other hand, choosing to pursue other things above God and His righteousness causes things to get out of order. When you get to the point where you don’t see God as Lord of your life, you tend to do things your own way. As a result of being disobedient to God, you not only create distance between yourself and Him, but you fail to recognize the power that He has over every situation in your life.

That’s where the self-fulfilling prophecy comes in. By not exalting God as Lord of your life, you act in a way that reflects that decision. In turn, it becomes difficult to see God working in your life and it becomes easier to continue downplaying God’s authority. Please save yourself some trouble and submit to God. Cling to Him alone, resist temptation and the devil will flee (James 4:7). As God is exalted in your life, He’ll spark a passion in you for Him that you never knew possible.

Isaiah 50:4-7 reads, “4 The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. 5 The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back. 6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. 7 Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced.” That sounds like some serious passion to me. God sustained him so faithfully and caused him to live an upright life even in the face of persecution. Although we might not face that same type of persecution in America, we still serve the same God who is able to cause us to live with ridiculous faith. Cling to Him and watch Him work on your behalf.