Where there is no vision, the people perish…” Proverbs 29:18

If God has given you a vision of something He wants to do through you, then He wants to encourage you to keep going.   Don’t be distracted or discouraged by the voices around you.  When God births something through His Spirit and gives us a vision of what He wants to do, then no matter what comes against us, we must hold onto that vision and keep pushing through by faith.

If you do not yet know God’s will for your life or if you feel that God wants to bring you into your calling, then I would like to share with you what I have learnt:

1.  Get into God’s presence and seek His face until you know FOR SURE that this vision He is calling you to is from Him and is for you.  Do not speak to other people or seek human opinion.  Speak to God and seek Him only. Ask Him to confirm it to you through scripture and the Holy Spirit and then wait.  He may not show you immediately, but if you are patient and truly seeking His will for your life, then He will show you at the right time.

“Indeed, let no one who waits on you be ashamed…Show me your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.  Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; On you I wait all the day.” Psalm 25:3-5

(Important note: to “wait” on God is not passive – rather it is active, keep seeking Him.)

2.  Once God reveals to you His vision for your life and confirms it through the Word, then ask Him for any specific instructions or guidance.  It may be His will for you to hold on to the vision for a bit and wait till He tells you to move.  We should never advance before God tells us to.  Conversely we should never hold back when He tells us to move.

In 2 Samuel 5:17-25 the Lord not only gave King David instructions on how to defeat the Philistines, but also when to carry out His instructions, ie “when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall advance quickly.  For then the Lord will got out before you….” (verse 24)  In battle strategy, when is just as important as how.

3.  Only speak to other people about the vision God has given you when it is absolutely settled within your own heart.  And even then only speak to the ones He directs you to speak about it with.  When Jesus revealed Himself to Saul on the road to Damascus He immediately showed Saul the vision and calling He had for his life “…For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness….” (Acts 26:16). Paul did not speak to other men about it.  He didn’t even speak to the apostles about it. Instead, Paul says “But when it pleased God….to reveal His son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood…” (Galations 1:16).  Paul instead went to Arabia for an extended period. He needed time alone with God to establish this vision within his heart.  God also need to prepare Paul for his life’s work, by learning dependence on God, rather than man or on himself.

You need to settle the vision with God and within your own heart before you bring it out into the open.  This is because, unfortunately, as soon as other people know what God has spoken to you, inevitably it becomes subject to human opinion, discussion and negativity.  Even the well-meaning and godly can be used by our enemy to bring discouragement and doubt.

I have had the below image in my mind all morning and felt I should create it.  Here are some potential obstacles that the enemy will put in the path of God’s vision for your life in order to prevent its occurrence :

(I hope you can see it, I’m still new to blogging!!)

Never forget that God chooses “the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God (chooses) the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He (chooses) the lowly things of this world and the despised things–and the things that are not–to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)  Therefore do not be surprised if the vision He gives you:

• seems impossible to you or others
• is contrary to your personality and nature
• seems to go against common sense

4.  The final point is – to keep going.  Keep your eye on God, not yourself or others. Keep praying. Like Paul, do not be “disobedient to the heavenly vision” (Acts 26:19).  No matter what the enemy throws at you, regardless of what doubts and fears you may have, or what other people say, if something has been birthed of God and by His Spirit, if we keep going on by faith, then nothing can stop it.  If a door has been opened by God, then no man can shut it (Revelation 3:8).  Let’s not shrink back, let’s move forward in faith – despite the outward circumstances, despite our weaknesses and inadequacies, and despite what others may think.

“For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries.” 1 Corinthians 16:9