Not all journeys begin with a vision, but every vision is the beginning of a journey.
As I mentioned in my last post, I am talking about something that originated from the heart of God, not the desires of man. We have all felt strong desires and placing them in beautifully crafted words and called them a vision. Church leaders are notorious for this , the proof being captured in many churches’ three part vision statements. I’m not slamming on the desires of Godly men who want to do good things, but there is a big difference between the visions of men to do Godly things and the visions from God that only He can give and fulfill.
“That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” John 3:6
God fulfills His visions through us and by the resources He supplies. We cannot see or understand the full scope of this kind of vision. If we did, we would run away from it like Jonah or run right out thinking we can fulfill God’s vision. A true vision from God frightens you and captures you at the same time. You don’t go looking for it, it finds you.
It was a typical Sunday service. We were going through the same routine we go through every Sunday. As we came to our time of worship, I was engaged as I usually am somewhere between sorting out the last thoughts of the sermon I am about to deliver and half listening for any last minute promptings from the Holy Spirit and trying to worship. All of a sudden I am arrested by God with a vision. I am engulfed by what I see in the Spirit as everything in the natural fades into the backdrop till I am only aware of God and what He’s showing me. And, this is all I see…
I was taken outside of our Church building as I watched a storm appear. It was sudden with no time to prepare. You could not see the storm, only it’s effects. It was like seeing one of those storm stories about a hurricane or tornado on the Discovery Channel. The power of the wind began to tear the building apart starting with the shingles. Piece by piece the building tore apart, shingles, plywood, timbers and bricks, til all that was left was the concrete slab foundation. Then as quickly as the church was torn apart and stripped away, God began to build it back. Suddenly, I found myself back standing in our sanctuary singing our last song if worship.
I tried quickly to compose myself. What now? I sensed in my spirit that God was about to do what I saw, but I had no idea what that meant. As I said before, it frightened me and captured me. I heard the Lord say, “surrender.”
I made my way up front and stood before the people God had been so gracious to bring together as our church. I felt compelled to share what I saw and what God said to me. When I was done sharing the vision, I said to the church that I sensed God telling us to surrender, that if He needed to strip anything away, we needed to surrender and let Him. If I needed to go, the building needed to go, any programs, any people, finances, ideologies about ministry or personal issues, then we needed to surrender and let Him. I asked everyone to pray with me a prayer of consecration.
What came next, I would not have expected. And, so the journey began…
Come along with me.
Well that is certainly what He has done, isn’t it! There has been quite a lot of stripping away for you, your family and the church…ready to see the rebuilding now! Love you and praying for you. :-)
Our God is Faithful and trustworthy! It has been a year and a half since Nancy and I were joined together with you, but God has been orchestrating this process for us the past six years. The stripping and rebuilding continues! However, I think about Jesus and the twelve and how the world was changed by their journeying. Hmmm..we’re about that size right now!!! Grace and peace.