I am with you - A prophetic word for Vineyard South Africa

What follows is a word I am sensing and discerning in prayer; let us weigh the word together, listen to the Holy Spirit, and respond in faith – Andrew

Isaiah 41

As I spent time in prayer this morning, I sensed the Lord drawing my attention to Isaiah

41. I felt a prompting to share this with us as a movement, Vineyard South Africa, for this season we find ourselves in.

I sense the Lord reminding us that our strength is not found in ourselves, our structures, our strategies, or even our ability to navigate the road ahead. Our strength is found in Him.

The invitation is to come before Him again, to wait upon Him, and to allow Him to renew our strength. He is the beginning, He is present with us now, and He holds our future. The great I AM is with us.

The Lord reminds us in Isaiah 41:9–10 (NIV): “I have chosen you and have not rejected you. So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.”

We are His servants. He has chosen us, and He has not rejected us.

We do not need to move forward in fear, anxiety, or dismay. We do not need to be overwhelmed by the challenges before us or become preoccupied with what the future may hold. The One who calls us is faithful, and He will be with us. He promises to strengthen us, help us, and uphold us with His righteous right hand.

I sense the Lord inviting us to take His hand afresh. Not to rush ahead in our own strength, nor to become paralysed by uncertainty, but to walk with Him in trust and obedience. He will lead us in the way we should go. He will help us. He is our Redeemer, our Saviour, and our faithful God.

Vineyard South Africa, let us not be afraid of the road ahead. Let us take the hand of our Father and walk with Him.

A New and Sharp Threshing Sledge

Isaiah 41:15 declares: “See, I will make you into a threshing sledge, new and sharp, with many teeth.”

I was particularly struck by this image.

I sense an invitation from the Lord to allow Him to form us into a people who are effective in His hands. Not effective according to the world’s measures of success, but effective in advancing the Kingdom of God, proclaiming the good news of Jesus, demonstrating His power, and bringing His transforming presence into the places where people live, work, suffer, and hope.

A threshing sledge is not an instrument that exists for its own sake. It has a purpose. It is shaped and prepared for the work it has been made to do.

Perhaps, as a movement, we need to allow the Lord to do that work in us again.

To sharpen what has become dull.To renew what has become weary.To reshape what has become rigid.To remove what hinders His purposes.To prepare us for the work He has entrusted to us.

This will require humility, surrender, and a willingness to be formed by the Master. It may mean allowing Him to address things in our lives, our churches, and our movement that need His attention. We must be willing to receive His correction as well as His encouragement.

But we need not fear His forming work. The hands that shape us are the hands that uphold us.

As we surrender ourselves to Him, may He make us a people who carry the gospel with renewed conviction, minister in the power of the Holy Spirit, love people well, and faithfully embody the values and DNA He has entrusted to the Vineyard.

May we become increasingly effective in seeing the Kingdom come, the lost found, the broken healed, the poor served, and communities transformed by the presence and power of Jesus.

Rivers in the Desert

Isaiah 41:17–20 gives us another beautiful picture of God’s heart. The poor and needy search for water, and their tongues are parched with thirst. But the Lord promises to answer them. He will not forsake them. He will make rivers flow on barren heights and springs within the valleys. He will turn the desert into pools of water.

I sense this is an important reminder for us in this season.

There are people in our nation who are spiritually thirsty, emotionally exhausted, materially poor, and desperate for hope. There are communities that feel forgotten. There are people who have been disappointed by life, wounded by others, and left wondering whether anyone sees them.

God has not forgotten them. And He is calling His people to embody His heart towards them.

As we wait on Him, may we become a people through whom His living water flows. May the presence of Jesus be experienced in our churches and carried into our neighbourhoods. May we see the power of the Holy Spirit at work in ways that bring healing, restoration, reconciliation, and hope.

Where there is spiritual dryness, may He bring renewal.Where there is hopelessness, may He awaken faith.Where there is brokenness, may He bring healing.Where there is poverty and need, may His people respond with compassion and practical love.Where people feel forgotten, may they encounter the God who sees them and draws near.

We must remember that the river is not ours to manufacture. It is His provision. Our responsibility is to remain close to Him, attentive to His Spirit, and available for His purposes.

We are not the source of the water. We are a people who must continually come to the Source. And as He fills us afresh, we must be willing to go wherever He sends us.

Clay in the Hands of the Potter

As I reflected on these promises, I was reminded that the Lord is also our Potter. We are His people, and we remain clay in His hands. We must resist the temptation to become rigid, self-sufficient, or so attached to the way things have always been that we can no longer respond to the leading of His Spirit.

Clay must remain pliable in the hands of the potter. There is a work the Lord wants to do in each of us, in our local churches, and in our movement. He wants to form us into a people who reflect the character of Jesus, carry His presence, and faithfully participate in His mission.

This requires us to remain teachable and humble. We must be willing to listen, to learn, to change, and to allow Him to apply the pressure where it is needed.

Not every season of pressure is a sign that we have been abandoned. Sometimes, the Lord uses the very process we would rather avoid to shape us for what lies ahead. But we must keep our eyes on the Potter. He knows what He is making. He sees what we cannot yet see. And He remains faithful to His purposes.

May we be a movement that holds its convictions firmly while remaining surrendered to the Spirit; a movement that honours its history without becoming captive to it; a movement that values healthy structures but never allows structures to take the place of His presence.

May we remain a people of His presence, with people before programs, committed to the mission of Jesus and willing to be led wherever He takes us.

So, Vineyard South Africa, Do Not Be Afraid

I believe the invitation for us in this season is clear.

Come before the Lord again. Wait on Him. Let Him renew your strength. Take His hand. Allow Him to form you. Trust Him with the future. He is the God who was faithful to us in the beginning. He is faithful to us now. And He will be faithful in the days ahead. He has not abandoned us. He has not forgotten us. He has not rejected us.

He is our God. He is our Redeemer. He is our Helper. And He is with us.

Let us not allow anxiety about the future to rob us of faithfulness in the present. Let us not become so consumed by the challenges before us that we lose sight of the One who walks beside us.

Instead, let us return to the simplicity of our calling: to know Christ more, to take His life as our own, and to make Him known.

Let us be a people who seek His presence before we pursue our plans, who listen to His voice before we rush into action, and who trust His leading even when the way ahead is not entirely clear.

And as we do, may He renew us, sharpen us, shape us, and send us. May rivers flow in dry places. May the weary find strength. May the broken find healing. May the lost encounter Jesus. May the poor and needy discover that they have not been forgotten. And may our lives, our churches, and our movement bear witness to the truth of Isaiah 41:20:

“So that people may see and know, may consider and understand, that the hand of the LORD has done this, that the Holy One of Israel has created it.”

May the day come when people look at Vineyard South Africa, not because of our size, influence, or achievements, but because of what God is doing among us and through us, and say:

“Truly, the Lord is with you.”

Let us take His hand and walk forward in faith.

The great I AM is with us.

Vineyard South Africa, our confidence is not ultimately in what we can build as a movement, but in the God who has called us to participate in His Kingdom mission. I believe the central call is beautifully simple:

Come back to the Source. Allow the Potter to shape us. Take the Father’s hand. And go where the Spirit leads us.

And so let it be, Lord!

Love, Andrew