A Shortcut
Hi Friends,
What a journey I have been on! This has been over a week in prayer and writing, only to stop and discover that I could not publish what I wrote. We can be lead astray by our own thoughts. Even though I spent hours of prayer over every aspect of the visions the Lord was showing me, he told me this morning to start over. He gave me additional revelation this morning and last night which has changed it all. It is so important to stay in close contact with the Lord absolutely everyday and moment by moment.
These visions I am sharing with you have come with the Lord’s insight and finally (finally!!!) with my understanding. I have to realize that even after placing the last period in each sentence, it could all change and the Lord may say, “Do it again.”
The vision I am sharing with you is personal, but I know that it applies to all of us. We are all tempted, for it says in the word, “There is no temptation that is uncommon to man.” 1 Corinthians 10:13
Let me describe the pieces and then I will explain how they fit - like a puzzle piece to reveal God’s message to all of us.
The Vision
First I saw a white high top cargo van off to the left side as I am facing the road. The van begins to move forward, towards me and then passes me on my left. It disappears from sight.
Next I see a baby perhaps 16 to 18 months old. He is sitting with only a diaper, and holding a small jar which looks like a jar for baby food. But instead I see the infant taking a clove out of the jar and placing it in his mouth. The baby looks like he is trying to chew it. He does not try to spit it out, but he’s looking a bit confused, and in wonder, trying to decide if it is good or bad to eat.
Then I see a woman holding a car battery in her arms, trying to figure out how it works, and how to get power from it.
I have prayed many times over these visions, and the Lord then gave me three additional visions to help me understand what the first three meant. These are the next three visions:
First I saw a pair of glasses moving through the air and land in a folded position in front of what seemed to be a shoe box.
Next I saw a silver safety pin in an open position with the point exposed.
Then I saw a large postcard (9 x 6) with one side covered in rows and rows of thumbnail portraits of people, both couples and individuals.
Now to explain - after more than a week of writing, praying and questioning the Lord as to their meaning, I see the themes are these: temptation, calling and God’s will.
The Pair of Glasses and a Box
The opening vision is of a pair of glasses which float through the air and land in a folded position in front of a dark box. It is the size of a shoe box. I believe that God is showing me what he has called me to do. He has called me to see in the spirit, and communicate what I see.
The glasses represent the ability to see. God gives us visions, words of knowledge and messages because he wants us to pray according to his will. He wants us to see the things that are hidden in darkness, so that these things, can be exposed.
The box represents the things that are hidden. I remember as a child reading the story of Pandora’s box. The presence of the box created a temptation in Pandora’s heart. She could not resist the temptation to open the box, so she did. Her curiosity caused the things of evil to be unleashed upon the world. The story was a pagan way of explaining the existence of evil.
We as Christians see that our enemy is the one who tempts us to sin. All his weapons and tactics he tries to hide in the darkness, so that a person is unaware of the schemes to entrap him. I read something in my favorite devotional, “My Utmost for His Highest,” (September 17):
“Temptation comes to me, suggesting a possible shortcut to the realization of my highest goal--it does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but toward what I understand to be good. Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong. When I yield to it, I have made lust a god, and the temptation itself becomes the proof that it was only my own fear that prevented me from falling into the sin earlier.”
This is something I feel I must explain, for it is not the usual way in which we see temptation. The idea is that the devil will only be successful if he can actually derail you from your calling and true devotion to God. He cannot tempt you with blatant sin, but with a “good idea” of your own, which the author above calls a shortcut. We can think of things we would like to do, and rationalize them into fitting into God’s plan for our lives. This is what brings the confusion he mentioned. We become confused by our desires, our rationale, and God’s calling and will for our lives. It appears to fit together, but it doesn’t bring peace, but doubt and the ultimate question: “Is this your will for my life?”
This is actually where I was. These words from the devotional put the finger on the problem. I will explain. The white cargo van was a temptation for me, to consider full-time RVing as a lifestyle change, and perhaps God’s plan to take me into a ministry on the road. I had received a vision about a year and a half ago about a circuit riding preacher sitting on his horse. Turning around on his saddle, he looked directly at me and asked, “Are you coming?”
This vision brought a lot of questions: “What do you mean? Am I to become a preacher? Am I to travel? Is my writing or my intercession something that will take me on the road?” These are questions that I asked of God, many times.
When I saw the vision of the white cargo van, I thought to myself, “It is leaving without me. What does this mean? Perhaps it is not God’s plan after all.”
This very thing, the RVing lifestyle was the shortcut, that I had entertained. This is the temptation that I allowed to enter into my thoughts. It became a near obsession, considering the amount of time I would contemplate the idea, research the idea, and watch YouTube videos of others traveling and converting vans into RV’s. An enormous time has been wasted on the pursuit of the idea.
“The shortcut to the realization of my highest goal-- It does not direct me toward what I understand to be evil, but to what I understand to be good.”
What I traded my time for (videos of the RV lifestyle) kept me from my highest goal, which is to know God. I let temptation become a distraction that took my eyes off of the Lord.
No matter how God wants to fulfill his plans for my life, it is his business, not mine. I am not to meddle with his plans or create my own plans to fulfill what I believe is my calling. I am not God, nor should I play his role in my life.
The Baby and the Cloves
The infant or toddler who found cloves in a spice jar, probably thought it was his baby food. The baby found the cloves to offer a new taste, a new texture. Was it good to eat? He wasn’t sure, he was having mixed feelings.
The baby represented me and my thoughts about how RVing would either support my ministry or hinder it. I questioned whether it was good to explore the idea, or whether it was taking me away from my highest goal - to serve and know God. As the baby was confused, so was I. Quoting from the passage from the devotional:
“Temptation is something that confuses me for a while, and I don’t know whether something is right or wrong.”
Isn’t God so good to reveal what was happening to me, and my thoughts on the topic? It is so amazing that he picks just the right page from a book to speak to me. He is faithful and will reveal the answers to our questions if we will only seek him.
My confusion came from the result of developing a rationale that supported this equation:
RV + travel + ministry = Circuit riding preacher = God’s will.
This is the human mind at work, trying to solve a problem rather than waiting upon God to answer. I was wrong in several respects. First, just because the preacher in the vision asked me “Are you coming?” did not necessarily mean that I was to preach and travel as he did. After all we no longer live in the 18th and 19th centuries, but the 21st century. Distance and travel can take place in seconds on the internet. Preaching can take place in the written word, as well as the spoken word.
Secondly, being a traveling preacher may not have been the intention behind the vision. It may have been to simply to live life before God as his disciple, and share the message of salvation to whomever I meet.
And the assumption that the equation was true is simply my construct, not God’s revelation.
The Woman with the Car Battery
The car battery gives power to start the engine of a car, as well as operate the electrical parts in the car’s cabin. So much of the car’s inner workings are now electronic in nature, and demand an energy source other than gasoline. The battery represents power, which in turn represents work performed. The woman wanted to access the power of the battery to do the work she needed or wanted done.
I believe that the woman was myself wanting to give power to the idea of RVing. I wanted the idea to work so that I could accomplish the goal I had in mind. In other words, I wanted to force the RV lifestyle to fulfill the vision I had believed the Lord had given me, as a circuit riding preacher.
I can see that this is simply a futile endeavor, because I do not really understand what God means for me to do. I am trying to take the shortcut to fulfill what I am assuming God wants. We should not make these assumptions for they lead us into confusion and to wrong conclusions.
I am very thankful that even though it seems that it took a very long time to get to the point of understanding, it just shows God’s patience with us, and his faithfulness to lead us to the truth. And that truth is this: RV ing is only a pastime and distraction from what he wants me to do. And this is it, as he has stated many times before: I don’t want you to do. I want you to be.”
The Silver Safety Pin
Years ago, before teachers communicated to parents with texts, emails and notes placed in book bags, they would attach their handwritten notes to a students’ jackets’ with safety pins. They knew that a small child could not remove the pin before the parent would see the note and read it.
I believe that the silver safety pin in the vision represented God’s intention to see that the message carried by the visions would reach the people for whom they were intended. The message of temptation, and distraction is an important message for all Christians. The church as a whole is not as effective as it could be. For many, it is not the highest goal that they seek, to know God intimately, but a lesser goal, a goal that does not hit the mark, but is off target. It is easy and more comfortable to compromise and settle for goals that can be attained with little effort, and without the assistance of God.
In the same devotional, I read another passage which directly pertains to a lessor goal, a goal off target:
“The primary thought in the area of religion is--keep your eyes on God, not on people. Your motivation should not be the desire to be known as a praying person. Find an inner room in which to pray where no one even knows you are praying, shut the door, and talk to God in secret. Have no motivation other than to know your Father in heaven.” (September 16)
The temptation of the flesh is “Notice me!” We have to keep our flesh in check. We have to see that, being concerned for how others see us, should never enter our minds. It is the very thing that can muddy the waters between ourselves and God. This desire puts a stumbling block in the way of hearing his voice and getting to know him more. It is actually a form of idolatry to think that what others think of us, could be more important than what God thinks of us.
Corporate prayer is important too. We want to encourage others to pray together, for there is power in agreement. “Again, I say to you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them by my Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:19-20
So when we pray corporately, we should pray humbly, and with faith, trusting that the Lord will fulfill the prayers of agreement, which align with his will.
Yet our highest goal, that of knowing God, comes through intimate prayer with him. No one knows and no one sees us praying in these special moments with him. This is so important, really nothing should take the place of our private time with him.
The Postcard
The postcard is also a means of communication. The Lord is sending his message, showing us what is most important to him. People are his priority. He is concerned for the lost. We are his creation and he wants all of us to know him and to spend all eternity with him.
The portraits of the people on the postcard are people that the Lord wants to reach. We are his ambassadors, and his messengers. If we are truly born again and carry the Spirit of God within us, then we are given the desire to see the lost saved, the brokenhearted mended, and the sick healed.
The Lord quoted this scripture of Isaiah concerning himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18-19
We are the Lord’s disciples, so we must do the same as he did. We love what God loves, and we hate what he hates. We concern ourselves not with our petty desires, but with what God desires. If we commit our ways to him, he will give us divine appointments - he will direct our paths. If we pray for the lost, and share the gospel with those who don’t know him, we will be doing what God has called us to do.
Our calling is to serve God, to love him, to honor him, to please him and to be obedient to him.
Summary
We must be careful not to create our own plans to fulfill God’s calling on our lives. Our “good ideas” can actually be a hindrance to serving the Lord. Our plans are not his. We can totally miss the mark, and miss accomplishing all that he would like us to do. We will be held accountable for what we do and what we fail to do. We must have the fear of God!
I wish you all of God’s best. And I hope and pray that you will all become seekers of God himself, for he is our treasure and our great reward!
