The Process of Seeing Our Visions
Becoming Reality
(Editor's
Note): - Many of you have sensed God putting visions on your hearts regarding
his role(s) for you regarding music and the arts as part of His greater purposes
in our region and nation (and beyond?), etc. Perhaps you feel He has called
you to develop a worship/arts ministry, etc. Perhaps you sense He wants to
release you in a greater way into the marketplace to impact the many lost
that surround you/us every day? And perhaps, after a long time of waiting
to see it happen/develop, you have become discouraged because it does not
seem to be happening how or when you had expected. Maybe you have become very
disappointed with God in the process? Let me encourage you that this is not
unusual! Hopefully the following piece will help to encourage you and help
to renew your hope regarding the visions God has put on your heart(s)! -
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-- by Grace Wiebe, Sept. 2001
Often when God first begins to put a vision in our heart, we feel that
the vision is about to come to pass almost immediately! We get all excited
and then we can just as easily become disappointed and disillusioned with
people and with God because it's not happening as we expected! - or when we
expected!
The Bible says quite a lot about things happening in the 'proper time'
or the 'appointed time' , etc. - God's timing is very important and often
very different from ours...His days are like a 'thousand years' : ). When
He puts a vision on our hearts, though it seems imminent, it may still be
a little way off in coming to pass. Or a long way off in our perspective.
Personally, many of the visions of my heart have come into fruition (or
perhaps even only BEGAN to surface above the foundation-laying stages), following
about 7-10 years after I initially strongly sensed a vision about a particular
ministry or project! But when the visions finally came to pass, it was an
incredible joy to watch God do it, and I've felt like I've just been along
for the ride - and a wonderfully adventurous one at that!
For example, take the verse in Habakkuk 2:2,3 "...Write down the
revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it.
For the revelation (or vision) awaits an APPOINTED TIME; it speaks of the
end and will not prove false. THOUGH IT LINGER, WAIT for it; it will certainly
come and will not delay."
So it is, very often, with what God wants to do with us regarding the
visions He puts on our hearts about music and the arts/media! He may not do
it in the way we have expected or in the time frame we are anticipating, but
if this is truly from Him, He will do it in His way and in His timing and
He will receive all the glory! He may allow us to go through much testing
and having to overcome many obstacles in the interim in order to see whether
we have the perseverance and the trust in Him that He will accomplish it in
His own way or time. Will we give up along the way, or get angry at Him for
not providing the resources or personnel we need, when we know He could do
it? Do we trust that He always has good reasons for making us wait and has
our best interests in mind at all times? Are we willing to learn the lessons
that He wants us to learn in the process - ie. character building ones, spiritual
warfare lessons, learning to praise God in all circumstances, renewing our
minds, allowing Him to purify our motivations, relying on prayer, and on His
leading/timing, increasing dependence on Him, etc. Do we trust that He is
able to provide our needs in incredible ways once it IS His timing? Or will
we strive on our own to try to make it happen no matter what?
A sobering passage in Isaiah 50:10,11 strongly encourages us to trust
in HIM rather than striving to make things happen on our own or to find our
own solutions when we're up against a brick wall..."Who among you fears
the Lord and obeys the word of His servant? Let him who WALKS IN THE DARK,
(which we often feel like we're doing when it doesn't happen how or when we
expect), who has no light, TRUST IN THE NAME OF THE LORD and RELY ON HIS GOD.
But now, all you who light fires and PROVIDE YOURSELVES WITH FLAMING TORCHES,
go, walk in the light of your fires and of the torches YOU have set ablaze
(perhaps said somewhat sarcastically?). (but look at the sobering result!)
- This is what you shall receive from my hand: you will lie down in torment."
Often we wonder why things get so stressful or out of control when we
strive to make things happen. I believe that often it is because we have 'lit
our own fires' instead of resting in the Lord and waiting for His timing.
This is a painful lesson to learn, but the more we learn it, the more rest,
peace, freedom and joy we have in seeing God work out the visions He has given
us as we trust in Him and let Him lead us one step at a time. This doesn't
mean we'll never experience stress...we will, but it it will be different
than the stress of striving and will often be potential obstacles that God
wants to see us OVERCOME as we trust in Him!
God is very concerned about building godly character and leadership into
us, and I firmly believe that it is often in His processes of preparing us
for the vision that He has given us, and as we move along towards it one step
at a time, that He is in the process of greatly developing our character if
we will submit to His processes - however painful they may be at the time.
Let's not try to get out of them, but embrace them - and especially embrace
HIM, learn what we can and see how HE wants to do FAR MORE than we have asked
or imagined as we trust in HIM to accomplish it, not by might or power, but
by His Spirit!
We can learn much about the processes God uses to develop and bring vision
to fruition in the lives of His leaders in Scripture. Notice the processes.
People also faced the kinds of struggles and questions we face, and God's
processes of purifying motivations and building character. Look at how God
moved them through it! Notice also that not all the leaders ended up seeing
their visions come to pass. Not all the leaders ended well. Why is that? This
reality is very sobering indeed!
The PROCESS is very important to God and how we respond to it will often
be His test to see whether He can entrust the vision to us to the point where
He will let it come to pass. Notice also how God never left them in the process
but sustained, encouraged, guided and assisted them as they looked to Him
in it. He LOVES to OVERCOME the obstacles because then we want to give HIM
the glory instead of taking it for ourselves, which can be soo tempting to
our flesh.
I have found it helpful to see a pattern of how God leads us through the
process of bringing the visions He puts on our hearts into fulfillment....both
in the Bible and in my personal life. It helps to give me hope in the long
and sometimes frustrating periods of being in God's WAITING ROOM. Perhaps
some of these thoughts will be of value to some of you as well.
Often we begin by going through various stages of interest level as He
begins to introduce the idea/vision to us. As we go along, the vision begins
to grow and develop. We become more and more open to it. Then we gradually
begin to get emotionally involved and excited about the potential that He
is laying out before us and we may write down the vision (as mentioned above).
Prayer is very necessary throughout the process, and at the point where the
vision begins to grab our hearts, it is very important that we lay down the
vision in terms of our own potential strivings to see it coming into being,
and allow Him to lead us so that HE can bring it to pass in His timing and
in His ways.
In my own life and in the visions I have seen Him bring to pass, I have
noticed that often at the point where I can almost taste the vision, He seems
to ignore it, and begins to lead me in directions, often over many years,
that seem almost completely unrelated. This can be a very painful and sometimes
confusing and frustrating time, but 'a corn of wheat must fall into the ground
and die' if it is to bear much fruit.
It seems that this time is a time where God is not only beginning to,
behind the scenes, line things up and work things out so AT THE RIGHT TIME
He can bring it to pass, but it is also a time where He searches and tests
our motivations and purges us of our impure ones. It seems that this is a
time where He is developing our character and teaching/equipping us in the
areas of our giftings which will be needed in His purposes. Eventually He
brings us to a place of rest where, although He has given us faith to believe
that He can bring it about, we don't want to move ahead with the vision unless
we know He is leading every step of the way. This loooooong and sometimes
seemingly endless time of WAITING often tests our patience and ability to
endure and persevere to the outer limits (according to our perceptions). Meanwhile
God''s character is being shaped in us as we trust Him even though we may
not see any fruit for a long time. God may often need to wait many years before
bringing the vision to pass, but once He moves on it, it often happens very
suddenly and in such amazing ways that we and everyone else watching KNOWS
it's GOD who brought it about, and not us!
This long time of waiting is a time of seeing our faith and trust in Him
strengthened, and our dependence on HIM to bring it to pass, rather than depending
on our own futile attempts, no matter how much He has gifted us. It is not
by might or by power but by His Spirit! If we want to see His power and anointing,
we need to let Him carry out the vision He has put on our hearts...and He
will bring it to pass if He has given that desire to us, because He desires
to be glorified!
Once He has us where He wants us, it seems He begins to resurrect the
vision and passion in our hearts. At about this time, God seems to face us
with the question of whether we are willing to allow Him to use us to carry
out this immense and seemingly impossible vision! At this point we often struggle
greatly with fears of potential failure and feelings of inadequacy, etc. We
also struggle with issues of faith...can God really do this impossible thing?
- while using ME? But as we continue to seek Him, He gives us the ability
to trust Him and puts faith in our hearts to believe that HE can do it through
us because we can do ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST who strengthens us, and because
HE is strong in our weaknesses as we trust in HIM.
He then begins to bring us through the process of working out His purposes
through us step by step. And when He does begin to bring it to pass, we can
be assured that we will face many fiery trials, but we will also see God overcome
them all and do miracles to bring the vision to pass as we trust in Him and
keep abiding in Him!
So if you are in a time where you are WAITING for God to do through you what He desires to do through you, whether through music, the arts, media, etc., you can rest assured that He has you somewhere along this process and is fully able to carry it out as you continue to trust in HIM step by step! This, too, is a part of your worship to Him and very precious to Him!"
Great Commission Worship
& Arts Center