Rebirth of a Vision
All of us experience various seasons in life, sun-filled days at the beach followed by storms, floods or fires. When we are young, everything seems to be a "birth of a vision" season where everything is new and opportunities are plentiful. It is exciting to get married, to purchase that first house and hatch that first child and start that first career.
Yet for most of us, life has its ups and its downs. The honeymoon is hit with the first fight and the first cold shoulder, that first child won't sleep through the night and the careers become more demanding with extra hours required at the office.
This is not uncommon. God allows us to go through difficult times because He cares more about our character than our comfort. Faith grows when we trust God through the tough times. Faith is essential when the chart of life is NOT up and to the right.
God can use everything in our lives, the good and the bad to teach us to trust Him, even when we are going through "the valley of the shadow of death."
The statement, “God will only give you what you can handle,” is a lie. God gives us more than we can handle so that we see our need for Him. Notice what God says to Paul about his thorn in the flesh…
“2 Corinthians 12:9 (ESV)
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
This same guiding perspective is recorded by the Psalmist as he went through a tough patch...
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.' Psalms 23:4
God doesn't promise to eliminate all our difficulties as we live on this sin scarred planet, but He does promise to be "with us," and that is enough!God is with us when we experience "birth of a vision" and the inevitable "death of a vision."Abraham is the poster-child for the process of "birth, death and rebirth of a vision."
Birth of a Vision:
'And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ' Genesis 12:21
'And he believed the Lord , and he counted it to him as righteousness. ' Genesis 15:62
God was honoring Abraham, because of his faith, as he trusted God no matter what God told him what to do... even leaving his homeland and friends.
Death of a Vision
God takes Abraham's greatest blessing and asks him to kill it... Isaac, his son!
'He said, "Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you." ' Genesis 22:23
When Jesus died on the cross, the disciples all fled for their lives. The vision of reigning on earth with Jesus died with Jesus on the Roman Cross. But that wasn't the end of the story. Everything changed with the "rebirth of a vision" when Jesus rose from the dead.
Rebirth of a Vision
'He said, "Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me." and said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord , because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice." ' Genesis 22:12,16-184
Out of the ashes of death, God specializes in "rebirth of a vision." When things are the darkest, God lights a match and everything changes. When you feel like giving up, at your lowest, God opens a door of new opportunities.Are you experiencing the death of your vision? I have good news for you, God can bring "rebirth" out of death, trust Him and wait upon Him and cry out to Him. A new day is coming and it is too early to give up.How are you experiencing the "death of a vision today?"What does "rebirth of a vision" look like to you? If God answers your "God-sized" prayer, what would that look like?Talk to me...
