It is fascinating how a word can come to you and stick in your mind, and you don't think too much of it at the time, but later it comes to assume a major significance.

For me, it is like that with the word "suddenly." I don't remember how or when it started exactly, but I heard myself telling people around me that it was a time for things to start happening "suddenly."

Overhearing a few conversations along these lines, my wife said to me, "You keep talking about things happening suddenly—maybe that's a word from God." I didn't really think too much of it until today, when I read on The Elijah List on the Internet the "Word for 2006" from the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders.

This group, which includes such Christian leaders as Peter Wagner, Bill Hamon, Cindy Jacobs, Chuck Pierce, Sharon Stone and Dutch Sheets, met as a prophetic "roundtable" in Dallas, Texas last month, and has just released a prophetic word for this year, based on a consensus of those attending.

As I read the word, I was brought up short when I read that 2006 will be a "season of suddenlies" ... the group feels that this will be a year of "new things" based on Isaiah 43:19, and that the new things will happen "suddenly."

They say: "2006 will be a year of great shifting for the Body of Christ. He wants to shift us into new wine for new moves of God ... The Lord is giving us new wine paradigms, extending to those in marketplace ministries.

"Isaiah 43:19 declares that God is doing a new thing. Do not get stuck in old patterns and old ways of thinking ... The right timing is important in 2006. With this new thing, opportunities will come and go quickly ... 2006 will be another season of 'suddenlies.'

"The prophetic words of past seasons will begin to see their fulfillments in this hour. The church is closing in on the 'tipping point' through the accumulation of intercession, worship, fasting, giving, etc, and the bowl is about to tip in our favor."

Suddenly—the bowl will begin to tip in our favor. I like that! I like it when God does things suddenly, and I believe this is a year when God will do things "suddenly."

God's Ways Are Higher

God sometimes seems to delay things, maybe waiting for us to learn and mature in our Christian walk, going through those times of testing and trials, when suddenly, in a day and in a moment, when the time is right, things start to happen!

Throughout the Bible, we see times when God did things suddenly:

• Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over how God had prepared the people, for it had come about suddenly (2 Chr. 29:36)
• Then suddenly, in an instant, you will be visited by the Lord of hosts (Is. 29:5, 6)
• I declared the past events long ago; they came out of My mouth; I proclaimed them. Suddenly, I acted, and they occurred (Is. 48:3)
• Suddenly Babylon fell and was shattered (Jer. 51:8)
• See, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. Then the Lord you seek will suddenly come to His temple (Mal. 3:1)
• Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising god and saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people He favors" (Luke 2:13)
• Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying (Acts 2:2)
• As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him (Acts 9:3)
• Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the jail were shaken, and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone's chains came loose (Acts 16:26)

Patience is a great virtue. It is one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 23) and we should all seek to exhibit the sweetness of this particular fruit. But for those of us who think a short-term plan is today and a long-term plan tomorrow, God's "suddenlies" can be very refreshing.

Yes, I know ... one day to the Lord is as a thousand years, and Rome wasn't built in a day. But great things CAN happen in a moment of time. After thousands of years of preparation, God's church was inaugurated on earth "suddenly" as the Holy Spirit fell on the believers in the upper room in Jerusalem.

In one day, a "mega-church" of 3,000 was born, miracles happened, and the Kingdom of God was advanced dramatically in what was historically no more than the blink of an eye.

The God of New Things

Today, God is suddenly doing a "new thing" again as He raises up marketplace ministers all over the world, from Jakarta to London, and from Singapore to Sydney. They are those who see their workplaces as their pulpits, and who see their destinies in the offices, factories, schools, courtrooms, theaters, TV stations and parliaments in which God has planted them.

As the prophetic roundtable group says in its Word for 2006: "God will raise up 'kingdom-minded' leaders who will mix with all aspects of society. This will be seen as apostles and prophets are raised up in media, business, government and other sectors of society.

"Societal transformation and evangelism will increase ... The seven major molders of society will be touched through this movement: family, religion, government, business, education, arts and media.

"This is a year of great transfer of wealth. God will begin to reveal strategy on how to obtain and maintain wealth ... Put your 'stake in the ground' in the midst of the whirlwind, and see God enlarge your boundaries (Is. 54:2).

"Do not be afraid of change—there is a pruning that will take place in all aspects of God's kingdom. In addition to pruning, God is going to stretch us to release a new measure of faith.

"This faith is necessary to accomplish the shift He is requiring of us, as well as the new dreams He will give us in this season of new things."

New wine. New things. And a new level of faith. It is an exciting year ahead, and one that will see many things coming to fruition that have been a long time developing. Fruit can be picked and eaten in a moment, suddenly, but to get to that point, the ripe fruit has had to undergo a period of growing and maturation.

Before "new wine" could be produced, someone had to plough the ground, plant the seeds, fertilize and water the growing plants, harvest the crop, crush and strain the grapes, and finally pour the juice into vats and bottles. "New wine" can only come after a time of work and preparation.

This year I believe we will see a whole range of new things happen seemingly suddenly: "new wine" paradigms such as marketplace ministry, but which are in truth just the final maturing of seeds that have been sown and cultivated and watered over many years of faithful prayer, worship, intercession and labor.