By Nate Johnston
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May 13, 2025
I’ve had this dream more times than I can count where I’m holding a hammer and I hear the Lord say “What will you do with what I’ve given you?” It echoes the parable of the talents. I know the guilt of burying what God gave me out of fear, out of a desire not to rock the boat. But for me right now? I can’t bury it anymore. And I know I’m not alone. I see others - seed carriers with pockets full of heaven’s plans, who can feel the fire of God stirring them to finally come out of hiding and build what He gave them long ago. But it’s been a journey to get here right? Because the enemy saw what you carried long before you even knew it so he tried to discredit you, silence you, shame you and wound you. You were called heretic, rebel, false prophet, and disruptor of the peace. And maybe that last one is true. But here’s the burning message on my heart to you rogue builders... To the ones who’ve been off the grid, outside the system, who have felt misplaced and displaced - you’re not lost, you’ve been on assignment. You have been pregnant waiting for the moment. And l believe for many that moment has finally come but it’s a strange and uncomfortable tension. I feel this tension even in myself. That feeling of not wanting to step on toes, of not wanting to rock the boat. But let’s be honest, you were never meant to go with the flow. God led you into the wilderness because you’re not called to walk the road everyone else walks. The anointing on your life is not activated in comfort. It activates in disruption. You need to swing that hammer to see your calling come to life. But you have been hesitant because of what you have been through. You are called to disturb what is stagnant, to confront systems that stifle, and to release what heaven is building. That’s where your oil flows. Not in compromise, not in trying to appease the structures you were never meant to serve or come under. This doesn’t give you permission to be arrogant or critical. You’re not building against anyone. You’re building for the King. Like David dancing before the ark, undignified, misunderstood, but in a state of deep worship, you carry this call in that same way. Its worship. And yes, some people will misunderstand your motives. That’s the cost of carrying something holy and different. But it’s no longer a time to hesitate or wait. It’s a “strike while the iron is hot” moment. And even as I am writing this I am seeing a scene from Lord of the Rings where the rogue king Aragorn has the sword of his ancestors restored that was broken in pieces from battle. Maybe that represents you and what you have been through or your mission. You have felt the hammer on the inside of you and you have walked through the fire but not God is restoring you to your post in a pivotal hour of history. You see, we are shifting from an institutional model to a harvest age. The Lord is asking, “Who will build it? ” It’s 2 Kings 6 all over again where the sons of prophets realized, “This place is too small.” And they began to build but in the middle of construction, the axe head fell in the Jordan. One of the building prophets yelled out “Oh no, that axe head was borrowed! Then Elisha threw in a stick, and the iron floated to the surface. And there’s a prophetic message in this passage for us right now. The axehead represents the apostolic office and regional authority. The Church has lost its edge, relying on old models, and borrowed tools. There is a rising cry to recover true supernatural authority and power and you are called to bring it back. The Jordan represents massive change and baptism into a new era. Old systems, though not evil, are insufficient for the harvest ahead. The time for murky waters and mixture is over. The building of the bigger house represents movement in expansion but not in the way we expect. We have to build for the harvest but this means looking beyond a building and building into homes, cities, nations. It’s building beyond the current blueprint and limited infrastructure that unleashes the church into full occupation as the ecclesia. We are in a moment where it’s uncomfortable because we are leaving maintenance behind and embracing mission. This isn’t rebellion, it’s return. It’s not pride, it’s prophetic alignment with the original vision. We’re stepping back into the apostolic mission of Acts, where apostles and prophets set the foundation, and the whole body is activated to move, grow, and expand. So let me keep stirring you for a moment. Think of Nehemiah overcome by grief for the ruins, but driven by the call to rebuild. What if he had listened to Sanballat and Tobiah? What if he laid down his hammer out of fear of man? We’re at the same crossroads. This is not us vs. them, it’s us FOR them. We are leaving behind a shepherd-only model and stepping into a fivefold framework. This is where cities are won, regions are reclaimed, and the local church actually thrives because apostolic centers rise and the saints are sent. And this is what I keep seeing in the Spirit, wildfires igniting across a map. Not chaos but commissioning. Not destruction but awakening. Apostolic hubs of true power, Kingdom authority, cultural shift, deep belonging, and the rise of the firebrands. In the next five years, God is recommissioning the decommissioned rogue ones, the factionless, the wanderers and calling them to pick up their hammer and build. To set fire to the beacons. To call in the hungry. To prepare places for the harvest. It’s like Joseph who saw in a dream what was coming and PREPARED for it by building goshen. What if this was a similar moment? What if this alarm we feel is the Lord saying “PREPARE, BUILD, PIVOT!” Not out of fear but out of a strategic zeal to get the church in order, ready for the return of Jesus and our most glorious days seeing the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit? Yes we need to build! The reason many feel unrest is because we have a LONGING in us for what the church will be and what she is becoming but we haven’t seen it modelled yet! Until you step into your shoes and swing your hammer. Because we need the messy hospitals where the lost and broken come. We need the places where the glory comes and there is no ceiling on it. And in order for that to happen, we need our ducks out of a row for a season. We need our systems ruined so we need HIM again! But rogue builders, you may be misunderstood. What you’re building may look different, offend traditions, and challenge norms but it’s not yours - it’s Gods. You are just the carrier. So, today I believe He wanted me to write this to you as a way to shake off the dust and intimidation...He is calling you to dream with Him again. It’s time to step into the mantle and office. It’s time to stop hiding, running, and waiting for the conditions to be perfect. Oh and it’s time to stop apologizing. Pick. Up. Your. Hammer. There I said it. Yes, the hammer breaks, but it also builds. It restores, it heals, it forges foundations. That’s your call. That’s your assignment. That’s your mission. You were never rogue, you were set apart. So no more casting your pearls to be trampled. No more forfeiting your mandate. Do you keep reaching the moment of birthing and handing your baby to someone else? Do you silence your vision for fear of being seen as “too much”? Are you shrinking back because what you carry doesn’t look like the norm? You are carrying something sacred. And the enemy has been trying to convince you that it’s a pipe dream. That you’re rogue, uncovered, and a heretic? Because the Father says that you are highly favored, and even now you are breaking hard ground. So stay focused. Keep plowing by faith and don’t be bullied. This is the moment where OBEDIENCE meets DISCERNMENT meets BOLDNESS and PUSHHHH. It’s time to bring it forth In Jesus’ name. “You see the trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned. Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem… And they said, ‘Let us rise up and build.’ So they strengthened their hands for the good work.” — Nehemiah 2:17-18 “Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself.” — Ephesians 2:20 “Alas, my master! It was borrowed.” Then the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” … Then he made the iron float. And he said, “Take it up.” So he reached out his hand and took it.” — 2 Kings 6:5-7