Vision

All too often disorder comes knocking at my door.  It brings chaos, confusion, and a lot of drama with it.  In other words, all hell wants to break loose in my life.  Does anyone know what I’m talking about?

I know the Apostle Paul did.  He said, “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life.  Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death” (II Corinthians 1:8-9). 

I am so glad that the great apostle wrote these words because in these words he’s telling me that he was mortal, just like me.  I am also very grateful that he doesn’t leave us hanging, but went on to say, “But this happened so that we would not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.”

Isn’t that a relief?  When you hear these words, do you feel like a burden has been lifted from your souls?  I know I do.  I think this is the same thing that Jesus was telling Peter in Matthew 16:18, when He said, “You’re Peter.  Hell will not overcome My people which I’m building, on the foundation I’ve laid.”  Yeah, I know—that’s not an exact quote, but that’s what I hear Jesus saying and it makes perfect sense to me.

Going forward, what do we foresee for ourselves personally or collectively as a church that we belong to?  What do we think about our future?  Does it look bleak?  Do we have great ideas and wonderful dreams?  How confident are we in what we see?

I know one thing.  I want to have Moses’ vision.  After God promised the Israelites success (Exodus 33:1-2), Moses told God, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here” (Exodus 33:15).  What I hear Moses telling God is that He’s more valuable to him than anything God gives.  Isn’t this a picture of what it means to love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind?

I think that Paul understood this as he prayed:

For this reason I kneel before the Father…I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

LORD, help me have this vision of You and help me to have Paul’s heart and join him in his prayer for all Your people.