Because the 2012 elections continue to be a source of confusion to many, we will address a couple of more lessons to learn from this to finish out this year. Then we will begin the New Year with possibly unprecedented opportunities to see our nation turn to the Lord for the greatest harvest in history.

          I know a lot of prophetic people who fully expected Romney to win the election. Of those I communicated with about the election, I do not know of any who gave a prophecy that Romney would win, but it was an almost universal opinion. I did not even seek a word from the Lord about it myself because I felt that I already had His opinion. That was a huge presumption.

          Bob Jones had an encounter with the Lord on January 16, 2012 in which the Lord asked him what he thought about having a Mormon for President. This was long before the Republican nomination had been decided, and Bob’s response was that he did not think very much of it. Bob held to that opinion until after the nomination was won by Romney, and then he believed that he must have been wrong and that Romney must be God’s choice. After the election, he realized how he had let his own opinions cancel out what the Lord was trying to show him in the first place.

          Bob is the most seasoned and wise prophetic person I know, and in great wisdom, he embraced this correction. Even the greatest prophets still see in part and prophesy in part. We have had many prophetic words come true exactly as they were given, but we misinterpreted them until they were fulfilled. I still consider interpretation one of the greatest weaknesses in the prophetic ministry, but it was also this way throughout history, including biblical history. Even so, I believe we must do better with interpreting what we are being shown prophetically.

          Some would interpret the question that Bob was asked by the Lord to mean that the Lord did not want a Mormon as President, but that is not what the Lord said either. In fact, the Lord did not say anything, but just asked a question. That question may have been the ultimate question that in fact decided the election. Maybe we should have spent far more attention trying to answer that question than we did. I’m not saying that it was, but it could have been. Romney could have been God’s choice, but I know many good Christians who did not vote because they said they could not vote for a Mormon.

          I am writing these things to you because I know that those who read this Word for the Week tend to be mature and serious Christians who are capable of handling questions like this. Even the Apostle Paul admitted to having been “foiled by Satan.” If it could happen to him, I think we would be terribly presumptuous to think it could not happen to us. We should be humbled by this, but the good thing is that God gives His grace to the humble. We certainly need more grace. The two most basic characteristics of humility are being teachable and correctable. We need to learn all that we can from everything that is affecting us and our times, and we must embrace correction.

          This past election was too good of an opportunity to learn to sweep it under the rug. I feel that I have learned something profound almost every day since the election. Wisdom and understanding are worth much more than gold or silver. I am sorry that we did not do better in understanding this election, but I love the correction because of what I’m learning. If we learn our lessons from this, they could save us in far more crucial times to come. I hope this is helpful, and I have a bit more to share next week. Our theme for this year is “The Path of Life” and as we are told in Proverbs 10:17:

      He is on the path of life who heeds correction, but he who forsakes reproof goes astray.

          Let’s not go astray, but stay on the path of life by heeding correction.        Let’s also keep in mind that the Lord causes all things to work together for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purpose (see Romans 8:28). This too will work for good because we have abundant evidence of how the Lord still loves us, and He will never, ever stop.