knowing God's timings
Knowing God's timings requires proximity.
A few weeks ago, I was sitting by my window while talking on the phone with a friend of mine about the Issachar Anointing and knowing and understanding the timings of God. While we were talking, she could hear birds chattering excitedly in the background. So, she asked me, “Are you sitting next to a window?" I laughed because I knew why she said that. The birds WERE pretty loud. So, I said, “Yes, I am, why do you ask?” She commented on how loud the birds were. 😊 I told her that’s because, for the second year straight, I have a family of Sparrows nesting in my window, I think they’re the same pair from last year since they tend to use the same nests. I then went on to explain to her why they were so excited at the moment. It was because Papa Sparrow had returned to the nest with food for the babies and now Mama Sparrow was taking off to do the same. I loved watching how they cooperated in the task of feeding their babes. So, the chatter was like them saying “Honey I’m home! Now you go and I’ll stay here!” Meanwhile, the babies were all squealing with delight because it was dinnertime. 😊
She asked me how I knew that it was Papa coming home and not Mama. I told her because I could tell by his song. The male sang while the female chattered, so without looking, I could tell who was coming home and who was taking off. To which she commented that she wouldn’t know the difference. I told her that because I spend a lot of time at the window, that’s where I study, think, and talk to the Lord, I’ve gotten familiar with who’s who and their behaviors. I also shared with her that there’s a Robin pair who also recently created a nest in the tree in front of my window and so I’ve been able to track the patterns of the Mama Robin. I noticed that between 10:00 am – 11:00 am, she would leave the nest to go eat. While she was away, Papa Robin would stand on the side of the nest, (perhaps he was too heavy to sit on the eggs) and wait until she returned. She would do the same between 7:30 pm – 8:30 pm at night before bed. I noticed that they too, would always signal to one another their arrival and their departure, so even without looking, I knew what was going on. And so, I’ve seen this enough that if I went to the window and saw that Mama was not there, without looking at the clock, I already knew what time it was. Or, if I saw her fly off, I had an idea of the time. Again, she laughed in amazement that I actually knew the timings of these bird families. 🐤
As God would have it, as if to confirm the conversation that I had with my friend the previous day, while sitting in a prophetic training, the instructor leading the class taught on the Issachar Anointing and stressed that as Prophets, this is where we live. He said that to know and understand the timings and seasons of God requires proximity. You can only know His timings and season by close proximity to Him. Yep, those were his words! I sent a text to my friend telling her what was being taught and what was said.
So, what is the Issachar Anointing, and who is Issachar? Issachar was one of the 12 sons of Jacob. He was the 9th son of Jacob and his 5th with wife Leah (Gen.30:17-18). It was said of the tribe of Issachar…
“And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their commandment.”
– 1 Chronicles 12:32
The Issachar anointing is a prophetic anointing that deals with discerning and understanding the times and seasons of God and knowing what to do. Do you need to be called to the Office of Prophet to discern the times and seasons of God? No. But to know and understand HOW God moves DOES INDEED REQUIRE your proximity to Him.
Just as I’m able to know what the Sparrows and Robins are doing and discern who’s doing what and when because I’ve spent time closely observing them, the same goes with God. If we want to know God’s timing, we must spend time in His presence and take the time to closely observe Him, closely listening to His voice. Remember I said that I can tell which bird is doing what by their voices? I’m accustomed to their sounds, and because they’re so close to me, I know even when the babies are shifting around at night, and by that, I can also tell when it’s near time for them to fledge and leave the nest. I’m listening for every sound, every bit of movement. I’m watching to see HOW they live.
To be able to flow better in the Issachar Anointing, we must position our hearts to put our focus on God in the same way. Listen for His voice, how is He speaking, what is He saying, what is His tone? How familiar are we with scripture and how He moved in scripture? What were some of his patterns, what were some of the emotions of God that precipitated His actions? Reading the scriptures while asking the Holy Spirit to give you an understanding of those scriptures will help you learn God’s movements. Notice, I said, “while asking the Holy Spirit to give you….” So, this is not just reading the scriptures as a thing to do or for information, there are PLENTY of people both in and out of the body of Christ who know scripture, but they don’t know the AUTHOR OF the scriptures. We know Him by His presence, and by our being PRESENT in His presence.