"preposterous"

I don't receive prophetic "words" very often. On average I would say that I probably get a "word" about once or twice a year and it is always in the form of an impression, a sense that a particular thought I'm having did not originate from myself bur from God.  Other forms that prophetic words or revelations can come in are dreams, visions, trances or even by an audible voice.  Impressions, though, are the most common form, at least for word-oriented people like myself.  Visually-oriented individuals (like my wife) are more likely to get dreams or visions.

One of the first "words" I ever got was literally just one word, the word preposterous.  How do I know that this was a "prophetic" word, that God was the one speaking this into my spirit?  I can't give you an intellectually satisfying answer to that question.  All I know is that when this word dropped into my consciousness it really caught my attention and I've pondered the significance of it ever since.  The meaning of preposterous is: "contrary to nature, reason, or common sense . . . absurd."  As the word itself suggests, it is the reversing of the proper order of things, putting "pre" where "post" should be or vice-a-versa.  Drawing a tail on the nose of an animal is preposterous.  A child correcting a parent, or worse yet, being elected president, is preposterous.

So why would God speak this word, preposterous, to me?  I think he was wanting to clue me in to an important reality concerning the nature of his kingdom, of how he likes to operate.  Some, in fact, have called the kingdom of God, the "upside down kingdom".  Of course, it is man's kingdoms that are really upside down, right?  When God takes over and turns our little kingdoms upside down he's really turning things right side up, the way they were originally intended to be.  God's ways will always appear preposterous to our human way of thinking and operating.  Ever since man listened to the original question/lie - "Did God say? . . . You won't die, you'll become just like God!" - we have been living in a preposterous, upside down world.  But we think our way of thinking and behaving makes perfect sense, so when God intervenes and shows us the truth, the truth can appear to be quite preposterous at first.  It can actually take some time to make the adjustment.  In fact, we're always having to make adjustments (getting our "pre" and "posts" in the right order) the closer we get to God.

As I explore the value and importance of the prophetic (hearing the voice of God) in the coming posts, and compare that to the importance and value of the written Word, the Scriptures, be prepared for some adjustments in your thinking.  Anyone who is serious about understanding the Scriptures and obeying the voice of God has to be in a continual mode of adjusting one's self to the preposterous nature of his kingdom.