vision and reality

"and the parched ground shall become a pool." Isaiah 35:7

we always have visions, before a thing is made real. when we realize that although the vision is real, it is not real in us, then is the time that satan comes in with his temptations, and we are apt to say it is no use to go on. instead of the vision becoming real, there has come the valley of humiliation.

life is not as idle ore,
but iron dug from central gloom,
and batter'd by the shocks of doom,
to shape and use.

God gives us the vision, then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of the vision, and it is in the valley that so many of us faint and give way. every vision will be made real if we will have patience. think of the enormous leisure of God! He is never in a hurry. we are always in such a frantic hurry. in the light of the glory of the vision we go forth to do things, but the vision is not real in us yet; and God has to take us into the valley, and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the place where He can trust us with veritable reality. ever since we had the vision God has been at work, getting us into the shape of the ideal, and over and over again we escape from His hand and try to batter ourselves into our own shape.

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 as 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

this is one of those passages that i have to read over and over again in repentance. it convicts me because i am always in a hurry to be a "finished product"--meaning i have always been the kind of person who wants to be at their dream career and living their dream life in their dream house etc. at the current time. i was one of those kids that always hung out with the older kids and tried to act more mature than my own age...

yet at the same time this passage gives me hope and deliverance because i know that God is still shaping and molding me into the person He wants me to be...it takes patience. the key is NOT to lose the vision and grow weary. we must always pull ahead and give praise during those times when we are being battered...

may we never lose our visions,
pajjar