| Four ways to spot a truly God-given vision:
1) Vision butts into your brain. If a verse or thought or idea keeps on coming to you, it's time to pray and ask God what He wants you to do with this thought.
2) Vision won't take no for an answer. Read the story of Jonah. God allowed him to reach the very pits (the pit of fish guts to be precise) in order to get his attention. Jonah teaches us that we can run but things won't go right until we've said 'yes' to God's idea.
3) Vision means trouble. Acts 14:22 says, 'Anyone signing up for the kingdom of God has to go through plenty of hard times' (TM). The devil won't update your Facebook with 'I like this' once you agree to do God's will. He'll single you out for his dirty tactics. So fasten up that spiritual armour and get plenty of support from committed Christians.
4) Vision arouses your heart-rate (and bowels). Gideon had self-esteem issues; when God went looking for him, Gideon was blending into the wallpaper (check out Judg. 6:11). God calls this whimpering coward 'a mighty man of valour'. Our resident wimp takes little step of faith by little step of faith, until soon the nerd emerges into a soldier who defeats a whole army armed with a crew the size of a small, rural primary school. God-given vision flips the impossible sunny side up. |
