07/06/2023
Visions and God's will, His plan, for us. This is my contemplation today. God gives us glimpses, and sometimes very detailed insights into what He has planned for us, and then He goes about accomplishing His will through us. The question becomes this... are we totally on board with His plan for us; are we excited about the vision (where He is taking us), or are we reluctant passengers, ready to disembark before the final destination has been reached? Are the goals we have for our lives consistent with His?
God gives us insight into where He would have us go, and who He would have us be; sometimes he reveals this in a very subtle way, while at others it is a profound vision. Isaiah had profound visions relative to God's plans. He spoke and wrote of them, and some were scary while others quite grand. Let's read an excerpt from one of them...
“And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.”
Isaiah 35:7 KJV
God has a design for us, just as He had the plans that He revealed through Isaiah. Sometimes these plans excite us while at other times we are frightened by what lies ahead. Yet, whether we are looking forward to what is coming as Micah spoke of in these verses...
“But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me.”
Micah 7:7-8 ESV
or, shaking at the prospect like those who heard the words of Joel...
“Blow a trumpet in Zion; sound an alarm on my holy mountain! Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming; it is near, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness! Like blackness there is spread upon the mountains a great and powerful people; their like has never been before, nor will be again after them through the years of all generations.”
Joel 2:1-2 ESV
God's plans will most certainly come to pass. So when facing God's desire for us, we might wish to go right or left but those roads will not be suitable for us to travel. Our only true course is the one that coincides with the will of God; all others lead to despair and failure. Oswald Chambers wrote his thoughts on this subject when he used the image of a potter’s wheel while penning these words:
"The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don't lose heart in the process. If you have ever had the vision of God, you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never let you." - Oswald Chambers
God's ultimate will for us is good. He is a great God with a design for us that will make the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel look like a preschool drawing, or the great Cathedrals of Europe appear as huts. The question you and I need to answer is "Do I have faith in God and His plan for me?"
On occasion, I have been given visions regarding God's plans, and I have delivered those messages. Sometimes they were received willingly and the prophesy came to pass smoothly, while at others the recipient was unwilling and the Lord had to drag them kicking and screaming to that place where they finally realized the perfection of His plan. One was comfortably within God's will while the other was painful and full of fits and starts... but either way His will was done.
Prophesy and visions are not a thing of the past... some are bold and occur with our eyes open, while we often refer to others as dreams, intuition, feelings, or happenstances, but they are just as much a part of our faith today as they were in the time of Isaiah. They reveal God and His plan to us, and if we see and hear them they will change our lives by allowing us to align ourselves with God's perfect will. But, discernment is required because all dreams are not prophesy... some are just too much garlic before bedtime.
I flew on an airplane a few years ago with a man of God. As we spoke I was given a message to deliver to him, an anointing, and a prayer to pray over him. As I did so he knew it to be prophetic and a Word from God... what lies before this man is wonderful, but fraught with danger. The prayer I was given for him was one of protection and power. God places us on a path and then He gives us the proper shoes and the necessary provisions and defenses for the journey. You can be one of two things... surprised or expectant. This man of God, this missionary, is now expectant.
God has a plan for you, and me alike. He reveals it to us in pieces, parts, and sometimes in whole, but when He does it is up to us to accept it or face the rough road ahead. Sometimes we hear God's plan directly, while at others it is delivered to us by someone else... either way the vision of our future is made known; our choice is in how we accept it... or not. How will we choose to hear it?
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the plan you have for me, and your will in my life. I thank you for the path you lead me down and the lessons I learn along the way. You perfect me in my faith with each step we take together. Lord, never let me stray or walk at odds with your will for me... keep me comfortably within your arms and guide me willingly along the way. Holy Father, I trust in your provision and protection. You are my great God and never leave me to my own devices without giving me an escape. Keep me strong of faith and confident in you. Let me run to you when I suddenly find I have wandered. Like a child that is struck with terror at not seeing its mother, let me also seek you desperately. Let your welcoming arms comfort me as I do your bidding, and adhere to your will. Praised be your name, now, and for forever.
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV
Rich Forbes