Over the past three years, I’ve learned so many valuable lessons about this, and I realized that these things were actually already very present earlier in my life —

I just didn’t always have the culture, language, and support for those gifts, talents, and that part of my calling.

That changed one Sunday in June when I visited a church in Barneveld, and a prophetess came to speak. That moment brought everything to life for me in a whole new way.

She was able to communicate everything she perceived spiritually and emotionally to the congregation in a constructive way, and people were actually blessed by it. This was completely new to me. I had grown up in churches that didn’t want to hear prophetic, honest words or didn’t want to cooperate with what God’s Spirit was doing — often because they were, frankly, too busy with their own programs and schedules. This is a bit black-and-white, of course — earlier I also shared my appreciation and respect for many spiritual leaders who have been true examples to me and many others.

But this prophetess modeled something different: that you don’t have to hold back your spiritual gifts just because people may not be ready for them — but instead, that you can experience the benefit of your gift by using it differently and learning how to express it in various ways.
This was life-changing for me.