When obedience waned, God's warnings came—not to condemn, but to redirect. A season of prophetic correction that revealed His relentless pursuit and merciful discipline.
The previous encounters—from childhood visitations to prophetic training—came during seasons of obedience and pursuit. They were affirmations, confirmations, and divine appointments that strengthened faith and deepened intimacy.
But this next grouping of supernatural events came during seasons of rebellion and spiritual compromise. Unlike the affirmations of the previous encounters, these events came as warnings—divine interventions to pull me back from destructive paths.
God's love is not passive. When we wander, He pursues. When we rebel, He warns. These encounters demonstrate that God's discipline is an expression of His love, not His anger. He loved me too much to let me destroy myself.
"My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in."
What follows are prophetic warnings that came during seasons when I had drifted from intimacy with God. Some I heeded. Others I dismissed—to my great regret. Each one reveals the heart of a Father who refuses to abandon His children, even when they abandon Him.
It was 1993. My wife and I were in what I believed to be a strong and vibrant season of life.
I had just sold my first company, and our family had enrolled in Youth With A Mission's School of Discipleship at its flagship campus in Kona, Hawaii.
We arrived with our three young children and a nanny, surrounded by a faith-filled community and friends who genuinely loved God.
From my perspective, our marriage was solid, our future bright.
That week, a well-known prophet was teaching at the school. Each married couple was given a private time to receive prophetic ministry from him. When our turn came, he began to pray quietly—and then spoke with unmistakable seriousness:
"You need to guard your marriage."
I was startled. "What do you mean?" I asked.
He hesitated, then replied humbly, "While praying, I saw a broken ring—and that usually symbolizes marital trouble, possibly even divorce."
His words struck me but felt impossible. Everything in our life seemed stable, joyful, and blessed. I thanked him politely, but deep down, I brushed it off—certain he must have misheard.
"Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets."
— Amos 3:7
Seven years later, after a series of painful and unforeseen events, my marriage ended. Only then did I realize that the word had been a merciful advance warning—an opportunity to prepare, pray, and protect what I had taken for granted.
At the time, I dismissed the word. It felt disconnected from reality. But in hindsight, I see that God had been inviting me to stand watch—long before the storm arrived.
This event continues to teach me vital lessons:
Pause & Reflect: Have you ever dismissed a warning because it didn't align with your current reality?
Journal Prompt: Revisit any dreams or words you once set aside. Could God be asking you to see them anew?
Prayer: Father, teach me to take Your warnings seriously. When I don't understand, help me to trust Your heart, steward Your words, and receive Your mercy before the storm arrives.
Around the age of forty, my life unraveled. Unexpected circumstances had shattered my family and left me in emotional ruin. The pain was unbearable—and instead of leaning into God, I turned away.
I blamed Him for what I couldn't understand. My faith cooled. My prayers grew silent. And slowly, I began to yield to sin. What once sustained me—worship, prayer, discipline—dissolved into indulgence and escape.
It was during this fragile, dangerous season—while visiting my parents and siblings in the small town where I grew up—that God sent me a dream that was stark, unmistakable, and terrifying.
In the dream, I saw a single word written with absolute clarity:
AIDS
There was no voice. No explanation. Just the word—bright, unmistakable, alive with dread.
When I awoke, I knew immediately this was not about physical illness. It was a spiritual diagnosis—a divine warning. The Lord was telling me that the path I was on was leading to spiritual death.
The dream shook me deeply. I recognized its weight and divine origin. For a moment, conviction pierced my heart.
But my heart was already cold. My love for sin had grown stronger than my desire for holiness.
I ignored the warning. I followed through on my plans—immersing myself in nightlife, deception, and seduction. I told myself I was reconnecting with old friends, but in truth, I was running headlong into compromise.
That dream was Heaven's lifeline thrown to me before I drowned. And I let it drift past.
"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent."
— Revelation 3:19
Looking back, I see that dream as pure mercy—God's attempt to rescue me before years of wandering.
The word AIDS symbolized spiritual decay. Just as the disease weakens the body's defenses, sin was eroding my spiritual immunity until I could no longer resist temptation.
The fracture of my family had opened the door to bitterness.
Bitterness became hardness.
Hardness became rebellion.
Rebellion became captivity.
Not heeding the dream cost me nearly twenty years—years of coldness, distance, and wasted potential. The consequences weren't immediate, but they accumulated over time. One ignored warning became the first brick in a wall that separated me from intimacy with God.
And yet—even in failure—God's relentless love remained. The fact that He spoke such a blunt, alarming word is proof of His mercy. He warns because He longs to redeem.
This event carries enduring lessons:
Pause & Reflect: Has disappointment or pain ever hardened you toward God instead of driving you closer to Him?
Journal Prompt: Write about a season when you misinterpreted suffering and turned away from God. What would redemption look like in that area now?
Prayer: Father, thank You for warning me even when my heart was cold. Forgive me for blaming You and turning away. Heal the hardness within me, restore intimacy with You, and help me to recognize Your mercy in every warning You send.
It was October of 2004. I had traveled to the Big Island of Hawaii for business, speaking at a conference for marketplace leaders. At the time, I was far from God.
My faith had grown cold. My disciplines of prayer and worship had long since eroded. Lust, compromise, and sin ruled where devotion once reigned. I was living as a prodigal—outwardly successful, but inwardly far from intimacy with Christ.
While I was there, the news carried reports of a rare blood-red moon that would be visible across the islands. It dominated the headlines. I remember noting it, even sensing somewhere in my spirit that such a cosmic event must have spiritual meaning. But in my backslidden state, I did not pursue it.
I extended my stay by a few days after the conference to enjoy the island. I rented a convertible and drove the winding canyon roads, taking in the beauty.
And that is when it happened.
As I drove, the radio came alive with the sound of Bob Seger's voice. The lyrics cut through me like a blade:
"Break down, shake down… you're busted."
In an instant, the presence of God fell on me. I was gripped with fear and trembling.
I knew those words were not random. They were not coincidence. They were a warning. The Spirit was speaking through a secular rock song, declaring: "You cannot continue in this path. You are exposed. You are busted."
The conviction was almost unbearable.
I felt the weight of it. I trembled. I knew God was confronting me.
Yet despite the power of the moment, I hardened my heart. The sin I loved still clung to me. I resisted repentance. I chose to keep running.
The fear eventually ebbed, but the memory never left me.
"Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent."
— Revelation 3:19
Looking back, I see this event for what it was: another act of divine mercy.
But I did not respond.
This event now stands in my memory as a testament to how persistent God is, and how tragic it is when we resist Him.
This Strange Event teaches us that:
Pause & Reflect: Has God ever spoken to you through something unexpected—a song, a phrase, a sign in creation? Did you listen?
Journal Prompt: Write about a time when conviction came, but you resisted. How does that memory strike you now?
Prayer: Father, thank You for speaking even when I was far from You. Forgive me for resisting Your voice. Soften my heart so that the next time You speak—even through unexpected means—I respond with repentance and obedience.
Looking back, these warnings form a sobering testimony.
Each time, He was merciful. Each time, He was giving me space to repent, to realign, to avoid disaster. And each time, I refused.
The result was costly: years of backsliding, wasted time in the Kingdom, pain for myself and others.
But even here, the story does not end in despair. Because these warnings are also evidence of something greater:
The Warning Cluster reminds me—and should remind every reader—that conviction is not condemnation. Fear is not rejection. When God shakes us, it is always to save us.
Even when ignored, His warnings remain witnesses of His relentless mercy.
Looking back, these three events form a single thread in my story: God's mercy expressed through warnings.
Each warning was different, but all shared the same purpose: to call me back. They came through prophecy, dreams, nature, and even rock lyrics. They carried weight, urgency, and the tenderness of a Father unwilling to let His son drift away unnoticed.
The tragedy is that I did not heed them. The mercy is that He gave them anyway.
"When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it? Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets."
"Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good."
"Because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He often chastens everyone whom He accepts as His son."
Warnings are not signs of God's anger but of His mercy. They are the proof that He is near, watching, and unwilling to let us wander without reminder. To heed a warning is to embrace mercy. To ignore it is to waste time.
I now see those years of warnings as part of my prophetic training. They etched into me the truth that God's persistence is greater than my rebellion. And His mercy runs deeper than my resistance.