**This is part of a series of posts that are a more in-depth look at a lesson I recently taught to a group of women in our church. To read the additional posts, you can easily access them by clicking on the links at the bottom of the page or in the body of this text.**
Earlier today, I shared with you my wrestling with and final acceptance of this idea God had been growing in me: For Him, the Vision He has for my life is already complete.
When I spoke out loud that I believed Him and that it was, in fact, truth...He whispered something to my soul that I pray I'll never forget. No sooner had the words, "Okay...I believe You. For You the Vision is complete," left my lips, than I heard the Voice as clearly as if He were visibly in the room,
Then why aren't you living like it?
This is why I said in this morning's post that the" fun began". What happened next is something a dear friend of mine calls a "direct download". It's an idea that comes to you by way of the Holy Spirit. It is full, complete and scripturally sound. It is good and needs nothing else added to it. He helps you understand it in about a moment's time...but it takes 30 minutes (or multiple posts!) to explain it. And sometimes...it's so HUGE that you have difficulty even putting words to it. Obviously, I've found the words. But it's taken over two months to find them.
This "light bulb moment" was when He revealed to me that not only was the Vision complete for Him...but I have in fact been living it out for as long as I can remember.
If you recall from the first post a few days ago, the Vision God has for my life is this: Some day...I would have a place where I can grow things, teach others to grow things, and a place where the "weary traveler" can come, put up their feet, rest, be nourished, encouraged, grown in wisdom, discernment and knowledge, for however long it takes for them to be sturdier on the feet God gave them."
In this "download" that I spoke of, Holy Spirit was flooding me with memories and affirming that for the last 18 years, wherever I have lived, I have been growing trees, shrubs, berries, tomatoes, greens, and on and on and on. I had already become so passionate about it, that my patio garden off of our apartment has increased each summer. There are multiple posts on this blog to verify it.
I had even become so obsessed with growing our own food, that I had purchased an aquaponics tank, had been diligently researching hydroponics, had brought in numerous spinach and salad greens plants for the late fall and was in the process of purchasing grow lights to continuously garden throughout the winter. If you follow me on Twitter, you've seen the photos.
But, the "download" went on...He reminded me of a wonderful single mom friend of mine, who for some unexplained reason had started wanting to spend time with me on a regular basis this fall. She stops by almost every other week. I feed her healthy, homemade food (sometimes Abbey cooks for her too!) and she sits at my table for a few hours and pours out her heart. I listen. I try to encourage her. I challenge her and she challenges me. Mostly, we help each other grow and we encourage each other to find God in everything. And when one of us can't really find where He is in a given situation, the other brings a better perspective on how we might see Him.
Here's the point of all of this...I was so preoccupied with trying to figure out when and where God was going to make this happen...that I was missing the fact that the Vision was already taking place!
Over the course of the next week, the idea of something already being done or completed for God that we are waiting on was confirmed by no less than three different sources.
The final part of this "download" was freedom.
I no longer need to pray "if" this Vision is God's will or "please God, help me not to miss it" or any other number of angst-ridden pleas to see the Vision come to fruition. Instead, I can wake up each morning and pray confidently a prayer of thanksgiving. Thank You God, that the Vision you have for my life is complete. That's the first part.
But the second part of the prayer is just as simple...Now today Lord, show me how to live like it.
Notice, I only pray for today. Since the Vision is complete and currently taking place...I need only be concerned with today. It's not my responsibility to worry about where the Vision will lead or end up...only how to be faithful to living it out in the now. I have experienced that this also opens me up to see, hear and understand more readily how He is fulfilling this Vision in me.
I was absolutely ecstatic over the next few days to share this with anyone who would listen. A few people were receptive, but I recognize now that it's just a whole lot to take in all at once. I have to confess...I was blown away...and I wanted everyone else to experience the same thing I did. I had a few friends chew on it and come back later for more conversation about living out the Vision. But before this, I have to admit that I had a bit of an overwhelmed-brain effect taking place.
It was almost like it was too much to process and it had to soak in slowly over the following weeks. I was even beginning to think that maybe I was just a little too eager to believe in the Vision and was blowing this "revelation" up to be a lot bigger than it really was. Then, a sweet friend simply said, 'I want to hear more about this...because it's huge. What you're talking about is Kingdom living now and that's pretty big.'
And if last Thursday's response from the ladies in our Bible study is any indication...we are all hungry...no, I'll go so far as to say...we are all starving to know, without any doubt, that God not only has a Vision for our lives...but that we can live it now!
So that's where I'll leave it for the present. In the next post, I'll share some specific examples of how God has been living out the Vision in me.
See also:
Part 1: God Still Gives Visions and Dreams
Part 2: This Life as We Know It...
Part 3: God Dwells in the Fullness of Time
Earlier today, I shared with you my wrestling with and final acceptance of this idea God had been growing in me: For Him, the Vision He has for my life is already complete.
When I spoke out loud that I believed Him and that it was, in fact, truth...He whispered something to my soul that I pray I'll never forget. No sooner had the words, "Okay...I believe You. For You the Vision is complete," left my lips, than I heard the Voice as clearly as if He were visibly in the room,
Then why aren't you living like it?
This is why I said in this morning's post that the" fun began". What happened next is something a dear friend of mine calls a "direct download". It's an idea that comes to you by way of the Holy Spirit. It is full, complete and scripturally sound. It is good and needs nothing else added to it. He helps you understand it in about a moment's time...but it takes 30 minutes (or multiple posts!) to explain it. And sometimes...it's so HUGE that you have difficulty even putting words to it. Obviously, I've found the words. But it's taken over two months to find them.
This "light bulb moment" was when He revealed to me that not only was the Vision complete for Him...but I have in fact been living it out for as long as I can remember.
If you recall from the first post a few days ago, the Vision God has for my life is this: Some day...I would have a place where I can grow things, teach others to grow things, and a place where the "weary traveler" can come, put up their feet, rest, be nourished, encouraged, grown in wisdom, discernment and knowledge, for however long it takes for them to be sturdier on the feet God gave them."
In this "download" that I spoke of, Holy Spirit was flooding me with memories and affirming that for the last 18 years, wherever I have lived, I have been growing trees, shrubs, berries, tomatoes, greens, and on and on and on. I had already become so passionate about it, that my patio garden off of our apartment has increased each summer. There are multiple posts on this blog to verify it.
I had even become so obsessed with growing our own food, that I had purchased an aquaponics tank, had been diligently researching hydroponics, had brought in numerous spinach and salad greens plants for the late fall and was in the process of purchasing grow lights to continuously garden throughout the winter. If you follow me on Twitter, you've seen the photos.
But, the "download" went on...He reminded me of a wonderful single mom friend of mine, who for some unexplained reason had started wanting to spend time with me on a regular basis this fall. She stops by almost every other week. I feed her healthy, homemade food (sometimes Abbey cooks for her too!) and she sits at my table for a few hours and pours out her heart. I listen. I try to encourage her. I challenge her and she challenges me. Mostly, we help each other grow and we encourage each other to find God in everything. And when one of us can't really find where He is in a given situation, the other brings a better perspective on how we might see Him.
Here's the point of all of this...I was so preoccupied with trying to figure out when and where God was going to make this happen...that I was missing the fact that the Vision was already taking place!
Over the course of the next week, the idea of something already being done or completed for God that we are waiting on was confirmed by no less than three different sources.
The final part of this "download" was freedom.
I no longer need to pray "if" this Vision is God's will or "please God, help me not to miss it" or any other number of angst-ridden pleas to see the Vision come to fruition. Instead, I can wake up each morning and pray confidently a prayer of thanksgiving. Thank You God, that the Vision you have for my life is complete. That's the first part.
But the second part of the prayer is just as simple...Now today Lord, show me how to live like it.
Notice, I only pray for today. Since the Vision is complete and currently taking place...I need only be concerned with today. It's not my responsibility to worry about where the Vision will lead or end up...only how to be faithful to living it out in the now. I have experienced that this also opens me up to see, hear and understand more readily how He is fulfilling this Vision in me.
I was absolutely ecstatic over the next few days to share this with anyone who would listen. A few people were receptive, but I recognize now that it's just a whole lot to take in all at once. I have to confess...I was blown away...and I wanted everyone else to experience the same thing I did. I had a few friends chew on it and come back later for more conversation about living out the Vision. But before this, I have to admit that I had a bit of an overwhelmed-brain effect taking place.
It was almost like it was too much to process and it had to soak in slowly over the following weeks. I was even beginning to think that maybe I was just a little too eager to believe in the Vision and was blowing this "revelation" up to be a lot bigger than it really was. Then, a sweet friend simply said, 'I want to hear more about this...because it's huge. What you're talking about is Kingdom living now and that's pretty big.'
And if last Thursday's response from the ladies in our Bible study is any indication...we are all hungry...no, I'll go so far as to say...we are all starving to know, without any doubt, that God not only has a Vision for our lives...but that we can live it now!
So that's where I'll leave it for the present. In the next post, I'll share some specific examples of how God has been living out the Vision in me.
See also:
Part 1: God Still Gives Visions and Dreams
Part 2: This Life as We Know It...
Part 3: God Dwells in the Fullness of Time
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