Insipid or Demented?

May 1999.
When you are given a glimpse of the heart of God, it can feel like a heavy burden. Mercifully, most of us only pick up on a small portion at a time (which is probably just as well,) for it may become too much to carry and you need to retreat awhile into everyday life. Therefore my concern for Serbia has therefore not always been equally intense; but it has got my attention.

The baffling problem has been what to do with the burden. Good things await the Serb people, but surely they are the ones who need to know it, not me? And how can they be told from two thousand miles away by a stranger who knows little about Serbia?

Pushed by the sense of burden I consider writing to some newspaper or other, but I know nothing about Serbian news channels, and even if I did, most likely that is a waste of time. Why should anyone take it seriously? Of course I would choose the words carefully, but if muted the burden seems insipid, when "told like it is" it sounds demented, and could even end up misused in support of extreme nationalism.

I really find no solution; and in the meantime the demands of everyday life drown out the urgency.

"But if that is to happen, then something will have to change...?"

4th of April 1999. NATO has agreed to a pause in its bombing of Serbia over Easter. What can I do, but pray: "What about the Serbs, Lord?" And like a bombshell an answer, unexpected both in shape and message, comes to me. I sense the Lord's longing to bless that people, to heal and help them. Bombs from the sky are the last thing He wishes for. Rather, He wishes to see them turning to Himself, finding comfort and renewal.

"But if that is to happen, then something will have to change...?" Again I sense something: I see a wave of sorrowful despair sweeping over Serbians; repentance, as they find how they have been made the alibi for things they would never have wished to happen. Then the scene changed. Something best described as like sunshine coming out from behind the clouds shining over the landscape. People changed; hearts melted; a blessing passed over the land and they were transformed. And then the blessing spread outwards, reaching the countries around them.

While this was going on, our congregation was being told how God intended to bless the Norwegians, and make them a blessing to the rest of the world. --The Norwegians, a blessing! The people once feared and hated up and down Europe, now a vehicle of God's blessing?

And the Lord gives me these words:

Behold, I show you a great wonder this day:

The Norwegians, --a people once feared, hated and despised the length and breadth of Europe--

I have taken, and transformed and made into a blessing for all peoples.

And I show you another great wonder this day:

The Serbs, --a people feared, hated and despised

I will take and I will bring great sorrow over that people and they shall repent,

and then I shall raise up change and transform them

And they will become blessed

And a blessing to the nations around them!