Scripture: Habakkuk 2 v 2 - 3: "And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry."
When we are established in our walk with Jesus and have put off our worldly nature for the deeper spiritual life, the Lord begins to groom us for the purpose of our relationship with Him.
As we mature and discard foolish things, He starts to take us seriously and will start to map out the plan of our life. We may know there is a calling on our life or it may be a surprise to discover that He needs us to fulfil our part in the scheme of things.
One of the ways He achieves this is by giving us a vision. It may be something He reveals as a picture or series of pictures in our spirit that is viewed by our mind. Some are like a video that can flow over days or weeks. Sometimes the information comes as thoughts filled with specific purposes.
These visions can be played out over many years. My prayer partner and I had a vision about my life that has been like that. It started in 1982 and the visions lasted for a few months. The first one was of me standing before two huge golden doors which I had to push open. There were steps down to a boat in the river.
Jesus was already in the boat and there were various things happening to the boat that I had to learn to handle, like cross-currents, log jams, a bear in the water, people in need on the bank, stuck in mud, waiting for rain to lift the boat out of the mud. Then there was another boat being towed by my boat, then there were others on the towed boat. It has taken many years to travel through this vision and I am still not at the end but definitely much closer.
There have been many exciting experiences, but also long periods of just patiently waiting for Jesus to put things in order. Learning not to get ahead of His plan by listening to Him. Him letting me bump my head on certain things so I would learn not to be impatient, not to do things my way, but to be disciplined and obedient. I must have been a slow learner at times!
But He has opportunities for each one of us and even if we stumble, or fall, or mess up, He will keep leading us until we get it. Even if it takes long, He is very patient. Sometimes it's just a carrot before the donkey's nose that He gives us and we must press on. Sometimes we get frustrated or hopeless and He will tell us, Lean not on your own understanding, just trust Me.
We learn to trust Him, and our love for Him grows and so does our love for our family in Christ. We are all a work in progress and should not look down on someone who has not yet arrived at our spot on the map. He may have fallen and Jesus is waiting for us to lift him up, rather than kicking him when he is down. Jesus says, What we do to the least of these His brethren, we do it to Him.
On a cautionary note, do not try to make or create your own vision. This is called visualization! It is an occult experience that will take us far from the true path into sometimes dangerous territory. It is a very popular format in the godless world arena and has spilled over into the church in some places, causing many problems.
The churches using visualization do so because they are not in the right place with God. They have lost their light and need to repent and do the first works to get back in line. They are trying to create their own path and use self-justification to bolster their ideas. Jesus calls them the blind leading the blind. Some will never turn back to the right way which is very sad. Jesus says come out from among them and be separated to Me.
To be separated to the purpose of Jesus is to begin to walk in holiness. He is sinless and leads us in a true way when we refuse to compromise with sin. When we are adamant that we want a closer walk with Him and are prepared to make any sacrifice to achieve it, that is when we truly understand the nature of His calling.
Write the vision down when it does come and keep it as a banner for the future days when the enemy tries to distract and frustrate us. Trust Jesus to pull us through the doubts and fears and to strengthen us through them.
Prayer: Father God, when we receive a heavenly vision we know without a doubt that it has come from You. It always enhances us and fits in with the path we are on. Not every calling is for pastoring or preaching but our calling is for specific tasks to be completed. Guide us into understanding what is best for us. In Jesus' name. Amen.
