Hubie Synn - The Tales of a Wandering Prophet: How God Can Use Anyone for His Purpose and Glory

M Y FAMILY AND I sat in our living room watching Super Bowl XLII, the New York Giantsversus the undefeated New England Patriots. As a Jets fan I normally wouldnt havepaid much attention to the game. Like most Americans, I would have enjoyed the commercials,hoped for some good competition, and then moved on with life.

But this Super Bowl was different. God had told us in advance that something specialwould happen. And my wife, Vicki, and I felt a witness in our spirits that the momentwas just about to arrive.

Through a series of divinely orchestrated events, months earlier I had given a wordfrom God to one of the New York Giants players. At that point the teams season wasgoing down the tubes, and this particular player was injured and had just undergonesurgery. Nothing seemed less likely than the word coming true.

Now we were watching the scrappy Giants give the fearsome Patriots a serious challenge.Whats going to happen, Lord? What will the moment look like? When will it happen?I kept wondering. We were sure the word would be fulfilledbut we had no idea howor when.

The story had started the previous summer when I gave up a lucrative job as a CFOin the fashion industry in obedience to God. Our finances were suddenly fallingshort, and I began working as a certified public accountant with a financial advisorin Staten Island. One day the advisor took me to visit one of his clients, a footballplayer.

David Tyree was an All-Pro special teams player for the New York Giants. He alsoplayed wide receiver, but was low on the depth chart for that position. He was mostlyknown in the league as a dangerous punt blocker and gunner, the guy who tries toblock the punt or tackle the kick returner when he catches the ball. I had neverheard of him until the day I arrived at his house for a meeting. David answered thedoor, and I could see the stitches from the recent surgery to his injured wrist.

We went inside, and we all sat down at the kitchen table to talk through some financialstuff. Davids two kids walked up to me and started to talk to me. I really dontneed to be here, I thought. Im not contributing anything to this conversation.At one point toward the end of the meeting the advisor turned to me and said to David,By the way, this is Hubie. Hes a CPA, and he will be doing your taxes from nowon.

OK, David replied, and that was that. The advisor and I said good-bye and headedback to the office. I had spent so little time with David that I didnt even rememberwhat he looked like.

So it was a little strange when a couple of days after our meeting I felt a stirringto pray for David. Why, I didnt know. We were barely acquainted and probably wouldnthave recognized each other on the street. David wasnt even playing football, becauseof his injury, and it wasnt certain he would play again that season. He was virtually unknown except to Giants fans and die-hard NFL fans. But I felt God pushing me topray for him.

OK, hes injured, I thought. Ill pray for that.

I also prayed for his family, his career, and his life in general, about which Iknew little.

That should do it, I thought, believing the prayer assignment was over.

But over the next few weeks I found myself praying for David often. He kept poppingto mind during the workday and when I was relaxing at home. I dutifully prayed forhim but couldnt make sense of it given that we had met so briefly.

Then the Holy Spirit began waking me up during the night to pray for David for longperiods of time. That got old pretty fast. Lord, why is this happening? I thoughtas my eyes popped open an hour after I had fallen asleep. The only answer was a drumbeatin my head: Pray for David, pray for David, pray for David. I prayed in tongues andwith my understanding, and fell back asleep, only to wake up again. Youre not doneyet. Keep praying. Keep praying for David.

Never had my sleep been interrupted like that. This is a little weird, I thought.Not a day went by that I didnt feel an urgency to pray for this man whom I barelyknew. David Tyree was very much on Gods mind, but I was to the point of wishingHe would leave me alone.

CALL HIM

In the meantime, my relationship with the financial advisor wasnt going well. Comingfrom my previous position as a CFO, I had a lot of confidence and ideas for doingour work better, but the advisor didnt seem interested in my ideas. Time after timeI felt my suggestions werent getting a hearing. Lord, why am I even here? I askedin frustration more than once. Cant You release me from this job? Surely I canfind other work. This whole partnership thing isnt going as well as I thought itwould.

Stay, the Lord impressed on me, and I reluctantly obeyed. I continued to work forthe advisor but stopped offering suggestions. Whatever the advisor told me to do,I did. But I was asking God if every day could be my last one at this job.

Then one day at the office the Holy Spirit spoke clearly: You need to call David.

Call him? I just met him, and it was only for a few minutes, I told the Lord.We havent even spoken since that day at his house.

Call him.

This cant be You, Lord, I thought to myself and pushed the bizarre idea away.

An uneasy, anxious feeling badgered me all day, and I knew the only solution wasto obey the perplexing word the Lord had given me. OK, Lord, I finally said, ifthis is You, then Ill do it. I copied Davids home number from the office telephonedirectory onto a sheet of paper and put it in my pocket. The uneasy feeling stoppedimmediately. Strange, I thought.

Though I had been walking with the Lord for nearly twenty years, at that time I knewnext to nothing about how the spiritual gifts functioned. I had no training and noclear understanding of what prophecy was, and would not have characterized what Iwas experiencing as a manifestation of one of the gifts. I simply followed wherethe Lord led and tried to obey what He said. I often felt guided by feelings of urgency,anxiety, or peace in my mind and body. It was that unscientific. I considered thisthe normal Christian life and was trying to do my best, like every other believer.But I had no track record or confidence in what was happening.

As a matter of fact, doubts besieged me after I told the Lord I would obey and callDavid.

Im still kind of new here. What if something goes wrong? I asked while drivinghome from the office. Is this crossing a line of professionalism? I dont even knowwhat David Tyree believes or if hes a Christian. What if hes offended, or justthinks its weird?

Asking the financial advisor for permission to contact David was out of the question.For my boss, everything was about networking, leveraging relationships, making contacts,and expanding his business. Make sure you get phone numbers, he would say as Iwent out the door to any meeting. He was the consummate networker, and I worriedthat he would think I was trying to ingratiate myself into Davids life for personalgain.

I could get fired for calling this guy, I thought. There is no rational explanationfor it.

Fear seized me.

I cant do this. I really cant. It will upset the situation at work. It will ruinmy reputation in the professional community. This could blow up so badly.

But I felt harassed by the Spirit. Call him... Call David Tyree... Call David.

And say what? I wondered, but my question wasnt answered.