7 Signs You’re Sabotaging Your Prophetic Destiny
King Saul and King David were men in the Bible to whom God gave a tremendous amount of influence.
Both men made mistakes while on the throne, yet only David was called, “a man after His [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14 NASB). There is so much that people of influence can learn from their mistakes and victories. For example, in young David’s early years, King Saul was an orphan leader who would never become the spiritual father young David needed. Why?
Saul desired to COMPETE with David rather than COMMISSION him. (True spiritual leaders release young influencers once they have passed the character tests, rather than control and manipulate them.)
Saul cared more about his POSITION on the throne than cultivating the PRESENCE of God with David in Israel. (True spiritual leaders are servants who care more about stewarding God’s presence than they do being famous.)
Saul was drunk with JEALOUSY instead of JOY when David became more anointed than he was. (True spiritual leaders rejoice when their ceiling becomes the footstool of the next generation.)
Many orphan leaders with large influence are CARNIVORES and CANNIBALS just like King Saul. They will eat (attack) their own sons and daughters when they feel threatened by their anointing and will feed on the flesh of other leaders (accuse and slander) who they see as having the potential to surpass them in grace and influence. As in the days of King Saul and young David, this same sick and twisted storyline continues to unfold within the global body of Christ. Millions are in desperate need of true spiritual parenting and sonship relationships to emerge for such a time as this. The need has never been greater!
A Life-Changing Encounter
Years ago, I attended eight revival services where thousands of people, including leaders with great influence gathered for a fresh touch of God. One night as I was observing a large altar call that took place, I suddenly had an open vision. In it, I was shown a large mountain where thou- sands of leaders with influence were falling on their own swords. It was a horrifying scene to be sure. The next thing I saw was a young man in a cave, crying out and weeping before the Lord. Then I heard God speak this phrase to me that I have never seen or heard before:
“I do not hear the cries that come from Mount Gilboa, but I do hear the cries that come from Engedi.”
As these words began to sink into the depths of my heart, I began to cry. I knew that God was showing me where many people of influence could be headed—to Mount Gilboa where King Saul fell upon his own sword. Yet I was also filled with hope realizing that the cries from Engedi, the very place where young David humbled himself and refused to be promoted unless it be from the hand of God, would be heard.
Seven Signs Influencers are Headed for Mount Gilboa
Out of this encounter with the Lord, He revealed to me that there are seven specific signs that mark the life and ministry of a leader with influence who is headed for Mount Gilboa. They are as follows:
1. Insensitivity of Heart (1 Samuel 13:5-14)
There were 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and Philistines that outnumbered the sand on the seashore camped at Michmash against King Saul and the people of Israel. Samuel the prophet had mandated that Israel wait seven days until his arrival to offer sacrifices to the Lord before the day of battle. After seven days passed and Samuel did not arrive as scheduled, King Saul took matters into his own hands, forcing himself to offer the sacrifices, which was a violation of the law.
Upon Samuel’s late arrival he said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for [if you had obeyed] the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as leader and ruler over His people, because you have not kept (obeyed) what the Lord commanded you” (1 Samuel 13:14-15 AMP).
Influential leaders headed for Mount Gilboa mistake the silence, and oftentimes vagueness of God, as a sign to take matters into their own hands, rather than an opportunity to wait and become sensitive to the Spirit of God. It was the insensitivity of the heart of Saul to the Spirit of God that cost him his kingship. God was looking for a man who would wait upon him, who would desire one thing and one thing alone, “to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4 NIV). God is looking for leaders with influence who wait for His leading and are obedient to His instructions at all costs.
2. Failing to equip others for the days ahead (1 Samuel 13:22 NASB)
“So it came about on the day of battle that neither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan….”
Leaders with influence who are headed for Mount Gilboa don’t know how to invest in those around them. They see influence as a means to build up their reputation and status, rather than equipping others for the work of the ministry. Influential leaders headed for Mount Gilboa are quick to silence other voices that might influence people and typically smother any move of the Spirit that they themselves did not start.
3. Building Monuments to Themselves (1 Samuel 15:12 NIV)
“Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, ‘Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.’”
Influential leaders headed for Mount Gilboa build monuments to themselves, rather than monuments to God who enabled them to walk victoriously. These leaders obtain all their rewards upon the earth and will have little, if any, eternal rewards in Heaven. King Saul saw assignments from the Lord as nothing more than opportunities to make himself look good among the people. He was full of pride and arrogance and masked it behind being obedient to the Lord.
4. The Need to be Politically Correct (1 Samuel 15:24 NASB)
“Then Saul said to Samuel, ‘I have sinned, for I have violated the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.’”
King Saul was given specific instructions to slaughter the Amalekites, and all they possessed, for what they did to Israel when they were coming out of Egypt. Saul defeated the army, yet spared their King Agag and the choicest of the spoil. King Saul was so blind to his own disobedience that he was at first surprised at Samuel’s anger toward his disobedience to the instruction of the Lord. As Samuel delivers a word of judgment to Saul, he finally reveals why he chose to sin; he feared the people and listened to their voice.
Influential leaders headed for Mount Gilboa believe they must be politically correct in any and all situations. Their desire to please the people around them overshadows their need to listen and obey the voice of the Lord. These leaders oftentimes believe they are walking in the will of the Lord, just as Saul did, because they have been given over to compromise and deception. They are unwilling to slaughter the “Agags” in the land. These leaders have settled for partial obedience, and they do not understand that partial obedience is no obedience at all.
5. Walking in False Humility (1 Samuel 15:30 NASB)
“Then Saul said, ‘I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before all Israel, and go back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.’”
Even in King Saul’s confession of his sin and arrogance, he was so full of pride that he sought to be honored among the people. Influential leaders headed for Mount Gilboa never truly repent of their sins, nor do they make it a public matter. They are full of excuses and are unwilling to submit to the process of restoration, no matter how many years that might take. The high cost of pride is the forfeit of wisdom. Those who walk in false humility will fail time and time again, until their desire to be honored, even in their failures, is uprooted and removed from their lives.
6. The Need to Have a Hand in Everything (1 Samuel 17:38 NASB)
“Then Saul clothed David with his military attire and put a bronze helmet on his head, and outfitted him with his armor.”
Young David was the only man in Israel who did not fear Goliath on the day of battle. He took the giant of a man down with one stone and eventually cut off his head, yet King Saul still had a need to have his hand in the battle. Saul’s attempt to clothe David in his armor was not an act of compassion or concern, this was an attempt to take credit for David’s protection on the day of battle. David was wise to throw off the armor and go with what he knew would work—the leading of the Lord.
Leaders with influence headed for Mount Gilboa simply feel the need to have a hand in each and every expression of church and ministry. They demand to know every detail and expect every person to report to them at all times. Their desire to control and manipulate is stifling and exhausting to those around them. These leaders refuse to release people on the day of battle. They must have a hand in other people’s successes and victories.
7. Insecurity and Unknown Identity that Fuels Jealousy (1 Samuel 18:8-9 NASB)
“Then Saul became very angry, for this lyric [saying] displeased him; and he said, ‘They have given David credit for ten thousands, but to me they have given credit for only thousands! Now what more can he have but the kingdom?’ And Saul eyed David with suspicion from that day on.”
Influential leaders headed for Mount Gilboa look at the successes of those who are serving them as a threat to their leadership. While they voice approval and affirmation to those around them, inwardly they are filled with jealousy. Insecurity and unknown identity are the fuel for why leaders with influence headed for Mount Gilboa do not trust others with responsibility and have the need to take credit for the victories of others.
Can you imagine if young David would have defeated Goliath wearing Saul’s armor. As they cheered for David in the streets, Saul would have shouted, “Yes, but he was wearing MY armor!” King Saul was so jealous of the anointing that David walked in that he would spend the rest of his kingship pursuing David and trying to kill him, rather than pursuing the real enemies of Israel. Church leaders headed for Mount Gilboa spend more time trying to discredit and tear down ministries and people than actually engaging the real enemy, satan.
