Second guessing God

What is prophecy? I guess you would say it is bringing a word from God. That's serious. Many people have brought prophetic words to me but they were not all from God, or at least they did not all come to pass, so either they were not from God or I failed in some way so they could not come to pass. Prophesy is not an exact science it would seem. I remember a guy who was baptised at Bugbrooke Chapel in the seventies and when he came up out of the water he was encouraged to prophesy. I remember it clearly, or at least parts of it. He said something along these lines "do you think I would let my people suffer says the Lord?" I am not commenting on the validity of this guy's baptism but if that prophecy was from God then he isn't the God I know. Suffering seems to be part of the package, in fact Jesus says blessed are those who are persecuted for my sake. One example of a duff prophecy. Why am I saying this? I guess it has to do with the building we had lined up for the Jesus Centre in Birmingham. We were reasonably sure God had given it to us, then someone comes and buys it from under our noses. Apart from this blokes business going belly up, it's back to the drawing board for us. Was God wrong? Did the devil win? No to both. Having wrestled it through a bit this is the conclusion I have come to. I don't really know but I'm not giving up.