And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. (Joel 2:28)
This is the time for the unfolding and fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy. In light of this prophecy, this ancient saga, is your unfolding story and an unfolding story about a little boy approximately ten years old who had a vision of a God-appointed hour that began its unfolding, not in ancient times, but in 1957 until this present time. God, in His omniscience, knows how much of even a good thing we can handle; therefore, He often unfolds His revelation to us incrementally. This also is the case in the life of this little boy who is our subject today.
In the Scriptures, there are several references to the Lord speaking to young people. Young Samuel is an example. Samuel was the child of a barren woman, Hannah. Because she was barren and unable to conceive, she often was in anguish and bitterness of soul. Therefore, she prayed earnestly to the Lord for a child. He heard and answered her prayer. This is her prayer. “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life” (1 Samuel 1:11). The Lord heard Hannah’s prayer and granted her request. She gave birth to a baby, Samuel. Samuel grew up in the house of the Lord and became great in the eyes of the Lord and men. The young boy in my story is not a character in the Bible, like Samuel, but grew up in a small town in East Texas, where one day at the setting of the sun, he was transfixed on the sunset. While being glued to the sunset that day, he knew he was called by God to do something but did not know what that something was. His sister asked, “what are you looking at?”. He replied, “the Lord has something for me to do.” Unlike young Samuel, he served the Lord, but still did not know exactly what that day in his life fully meant.
Now Samuel knew the voice of God from an early age, he ministered before the Lord, even as a child […] One day while Samuel was lying down, the Lord called him, and he answered, “Here I am!” So he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” And he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” And he went and lay down. Then the Lord called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” He answered, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” (Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor was the word of the Lord yet revealed to him.)
And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord, for Your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears” (1 Samuel 2:18; 3:3–10).
How often has the Lord spoken to us but our response was not, “Speak Lord, for your servant hears.” If we want to see God move and His word come to pass, we must listen to Godly instructions and learn to say,“Speak Lord, your servant hears.” The young boy from East Texas, however, did not answer the Lord in the same manner at that time, but pondered those words in his heart for more than fifty years, and after so long a time while fasting, the Lord spoke clearly to his heart saying, “One day when you were a little boy, you were watching the sun set […] it was setting in the West, and at the same time it was rising in the East. That day was a prophetic day in your life.” This is a message for us all! The prophet Habakkuk tells us, “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (Habakkuk 2:2–3). This is your time! This day is why you were born! Take your place now!