Prophetic Artist- Hannah Atkinson
Used by permission
I had a vision of a *savage scrounging in dusty places
inside Death Valley. He was wide-eyed and desperate as he clawed the dirt
searching for LIFE. There was none to be found. Then I heard the angels say,
“Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 14:5) He stopped his digging and
turned his head toward the voices.
In the next vision I was walking among barren vines. I
paused in front of the vine that I had been caring for. No fruit. No life could
be seen.
Jesus spoke 2 things to me:
1) Remember
the **fig tree in the Bible? The Gardener said, “Don’t cut it down. Give me a
year. I will put fertilizer around it. Come back and if it doesn’t have fruit
on it then you can cut it down.”
2) Your
reward is not found on this vine. Your reward is secure with me. I AM your great reward.
Perhaps you are sitting at the end of the lane straining to
see your Prodigal return. You are not alone. Carry on with your life. Heal.
Pray. Grieve. Wait. Hope. Ask, seek and knock on God’s door. Distance is not
bad and many times boundaries are necessary. There’s a chasm between you and
the prodigal. I get that. True repentance has always been the only way back
home. Perhaps fertilizer creates a broken and contrite spirit. Keep your eyes
fixed on Jesus, and then fix them again on His gaze. Faith is being
strengthened in you. Stand firm. Then stand firm again.
Most importantly, remember that a fruitless vine in Death
Valley does not determine your reward! It’s secure in a place where thieves can
never get in and steal!
Shalom
*Savage = as a noun it describes a fierce, brutal or cruel
person. As an adjective it describes someone who is enraged, or furiously
angry. As a verb it describes someone who attacks or criticizes
thoroughly or remorselessly.
** “Then he (Jesus) told this parable: “A man had a
fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did
not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard,
‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and
haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ “‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for
one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears
fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’” Luke 13:6-9