I was driving in my car on a Saturday when the Lord spoke this Scripture to me. It was a Scripture I was familiar with but had not visited it in quite some time.
"Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days." (Ecclesiastes 11:1 ESV)
The Amplified says, "Cast your bread on the surface of the waters, [be diligently active, make thoughtful decisions], for you will find it after many days."
A Prophetic History with God and Numbers
I've always seen repetitive numbers everywhere—on the clock, license plates, mailboxes, etc. But a lot of my church members are seeing repetitive numbers right now for the first time or like never before. I first started seeing numbers when I was believing for a child over twenty years ago.
The numbers I saw, mostly, were 111, 1111, and 711. So, I looked up all the Scriptures that were correlated with those numbers and wrote them down. I also saw 333, 444, 555, 1023, 1234, etc. I still do! It never really stopped!
People often ask me what this means. I tell them God is always speaking, and we will hear him, if we are listening. He is trying to quicken us to his voice. Showing us numbers is just one way he does this. The same numbers could speak different things to different people.
When I would see 111, I was drawn to Ecclesiastes 11:1 and took it to mean that believing in something was not a waste of time, for the blessing would be returned to me in time, in exchange for my faith.
The Cost of Casting
In the writing of this Scripture, it is believed by some that Solomon was referring to ships he sent out full of goods to trade with other nations, and they would return filled with treasure (1 Kings 9:26–28; 10:22).
During their journey, they would have faced insurmountable odds. Can you imagine the storms and strong waves? Maybe even attacks... theft? Were there "pirates" back then? The sailors would have been persistent and fought through these things. (Photo via Flickr)
They may have been gone for days or even weeks, but when they got home, it was hoped that the ships would be filled with the reward of their journey. To Solomon, this was an investment. He didn't know what the return would be or how difficult the battle would be. It was a risk.
What Is Coming to You in Exchange for Your Faith?
In all practicality, in the natural, when you cast your bread upon water, it seems impossible for it to come back to you. Once it's gone, it's gone. Have you ever thrown bread in the water and watch it drift off? I used to feed the ducks at the lake, and you knew when they were full, because they would just let the bread go where it may. I would watch it get farther and farther from shore. This Scripture means to invest according to your faith, even in seemingly impossible times, believing for a great outcome but not knowing what that looks like.
Solomon had to sow his ships in faith, not knowing when, or if, they would return to him—if they would return empty, or bring back a tremendous harvest. I'm sure many ships were sent out in that day and did not return at all.
He had to carry on in the waiting and not doubt or fear what would happen.
If you skip down to Ecclesiastes 11:4–5 (AMPC), it says: "He who observes the wind [and waits for all the conditions to be favorable] will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap. As you know not what is the way of the wind, or how the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a pregnant woman, even so you know not the work of God, Who does all."
Let me repeat what stands out in this Scripture: If you "[wait] for all the conditions to be favorable..." We can't allow our "now circumstances" to create fear and stop us from fulfilling our God-given purposes and seeing our promises come to pass.
The Lord told me many of us are in the middle of the Red Sea. We have not reached the other side. Imagine how uncertain the Israelites felt standing in the middle of parted waters. I'm sure they felt very fearful and just wanted to get to the bank on the other side. You can't stand and ponder and let uncertainty rule you in that moment... You just keep pressing forward, believing you will get there sooner or later. You keep walking. The Israelites knew they could not turn back—neither can we. (Photo via Pixabay)
Skip back to verse 3 (AMPC), it says, "If the clouds are full of rain, they empty themselves upon the earth;" this represents the storms of life. Then it says, "if a tree falls toward the south or toward the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie." So, if storms come our way and a few trees fall in our path, will we just stand and fret? Or will we step over the trees and keep moving on?
Though circumstances may look bleak or uncertain to a lot of people right now, this is not a sign of what God is doing in the spiritual realm, or an indicator of the future.
It's important not to try and read into the "natural realm" or the appearance of our circumstances as a sign of what is coming, just as we are not to rely on our emotions! Our emotions can lie!
Verse 6 says, "In the morning sow your seed, and in the evening withhold not your hands, for you know not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether both alike will be good."
We need to be casting our bread upon the water in pure faith right now, giving of ourselves and our resources to sow not only into that which we believe is coming, but also that which we have right now! Don't let fear, negative emotions, and the signs of the times keep you from blessing that which is right before you. Speak blessings over what you have! In time, our investment will return to us. Our bread will return to us.
You Will Reap If You Do Not Loose Heart
A former church member, who moved away, messaged me and said, "The church is tired of hearing what God is going to do. We are just ready for him to do something." I think we can all relate on some level! Hope deferred and spiritual fatigue can set in easily. We've been hearing over and over about this great revival and glory that is coming. And we believe it when we hear it! But we can't sit around moping if it hasn't come yet. (Photo via Unsplash)
I have a friend who teaches an anti-rapture message all over the world. At first, I thought this was a waste of time, but he says so many churches in other nations believe a rapture is imminent, so they just sit around doing nothing. (Friends, there is much to do!) He says the message isn't so much about the rapture, as it is a message of making much with what you have.
Look at all the Scriptures on the mustard seed. We don't have to have everything figured out, because God will grow our mustard seed much better than we can grow it by trying to reason it all out in our natural minds.
Also, let's look at 1 Corinthians 1:27 (ESV): "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong."
Let's not doubt what the Lord is up to! He is lowering the "look at me" church and is raising up the "look at God" church! This may seem foolish to some, as that Scripture says, but those who have the Spirit of God within them understand this and know it's been a long time coming. God is cleaning house, rearranging, and regrouping to prepare us for what is coming! As many others have already stated, He is going to use the nameless and faceless and those who surrender their own agendas to accomplish His purposes alone! All glory goes to God, not to any leader, not in a building, not in programs, and not in our fleshly exploits.
I'll end with Galatians 6:9 (AMPC): "And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint."
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Jan Jansen
Global Fire Ministries | The Fire Church
Email:Â info@globalfireministries.com
Websites: www.globalfireministries.com | thefirechurch.com
Jan Jansen is the co-founder of Global Fire Ministries, senior pastor of The Encounter Church in Murfreesboro, TN, and author of The Rise and Fall of a Prophet. Jan's desire is to see people walk in their full destiny by intimately knowing the person of the Holy Spirit. She is a "glory girl" and has experienced countless manifestations of the glory of God throughout her ministry. She has tremendous faith to believe we should all be experiencing heaven on earth. She is a dreamer, dream interpreter, and seer. Jan's heart truly is to bring others to a deeper understanding of who God really is, his Father's heart, as well as his supernatural power.
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