Hi Friends,

I am sharing today about something that the Lord wants to teach us.  Years ago, my father was studying for his private pilot’s license. I was only a kid, but I enjoyed studying the course with the projector slides and the navigational maps.  My dad taught me how to use a circular calculator to figure gas consumption. He taught us about wind drift and how to compute air speed with a stopwatch and following the grid on the ground.  Truly a wonderful experience which was also helpful when taking a trip with him from Illinois to Minnesota, and then all the way to Montana. We flew using omni station maps that provided the necessary radio frequencies for navigation, and location.  We flew from one omni station to another, like crossing a creek with stepping stones. I feel very blessed to have a dad that wanted me to learn about — well, almost everything!

But I want to tell you that our heavenly Father is also interested in teaching us.  He wants us to know his ways, and he wants us to learn to trust him in all things.

My dad went on to get his “instrument rating,” to allow him to fly in fog, and other poor weather conditions, when there is no visibility.  By understanding the full instrumentation of the plane, you let the instruments tell you what your eyes cannot see.

The visions I am sharing with you today are about learning how to walk in the dark.  Rather than instrumentation to give us our bearings, we have to rely on the Holy Spirit to direct our paths.

“In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your path.”  Proverbs 3:6

The Black Dog

I saw a medium sized black shaggy dog with a few white markings.  He was walking in the dark on a paved road, following the painted white line.  The scene was very dark, only the dog and the white line on the pavement could be seen.  My view of the dog was from his rear right leg and side, so that I was only able to see a bit of the dog’s head.  

When I received this vision, I had been praying for direction regarding a church home.  I believe that the Lord was describing my situation at that moment. I was the black dog, walking in the dark.  I was trying to “walk the line,” to do the right thing. I do not want to go my own way and find later that I had disappointed God.  I still remember the Lord saying to me several years ago, “I keep my angels round about you, but you go your own way.”   I can only imagine all the trouble I have caused the Lord, over the years, getting myself into one jam or another.  

But I must say, that ever since he spoke those words to me, I have tried not to “wing it,” or do my own thing.  I always try to be very careful and follow his leading. I try to listen to hear his voice and not get impatient or jump too soon.  It is always best to stay in step with the Lord and not lag behind or run ahead of him.

If you have read some of my recent posts, you will know that I have had a difficult time attending the church that I believe that the Lord was asking me to attend.  Several times I left the church in tears, asking God, “What just happened?” 

One time, at a prayer/worship evening, the music leader looked at me with such disdain — “if looks could kill…”   I had gone up to the open mic to pray, but God gave me a message instead, so I spoke out. And apparently my prayer or message was not well received.  It didn’t go along with “the flow.” Only prayers that are nebulous, and flowery, or those that speak of the heavenly realm like “the river of God,” or “the elders around the throne of God” are acceptable.  

The message God had given me that night was something he had spoken to me years earlier: “Stop complaining.  Do you want to wander as the Israelites did for forty years?  Do not complain, but learn to be content.”  I can see why the music pastor was perturbed.  However, I am quite aware that when I am in the presence of God, the Lord has my mouth.

That next Sunday morning, I sat in the car in the church parking lot, knowing that the Lord wanted me to go in.  I kept wondering, “Why?” I definitely felt that I was in the dark. Why did God want me to go to a church where I continued to feel that I didn’t belong?”

Obedience

Obedience, even when we are in the dark, is what the Lord expects of us. The desire to be obedient pushes us to muster the faith and courage to walk when you cannot see.  We have to trust the Lord to take us by the hand, and lead us. This may be a little unnerving to some.  Like me, I always want to know first before I go. What will it be like? Who is going to be there? How long will it last?  Is this going to hurt? Always, many, many questions.

What helps me in these situations is to spend more time in prayer.  I trust him to speak to me when I don’t understand. “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you wonderful things you do not know.”  Jeremiah 33:3    

I remember a vision that God had given me years ago, that I prayed about for ten days before I got my answer.  Even though it took ten days, God was faithful. He wants us to ask him. It is how we come to know him, to recognize his voice, and to know his ways. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”  Matthew 7:7-8 

The Swamp

Everyone today hears the word, “swamp,” and they think of the corruption in the government, referred to as the “Deep State.”  But I had a vision of a swamp following the vision above. The scene was grey. The trees were standing in water at flood level, appearing dead.  The trees had no foliage, there was no color, no indication of life. The water was stagnant. The scene was somber.

Uncertainty is uncomfortable.  When things seem uncertain, we can become unconscious of those around us.  We can be “in our own world,” so to speak. We can become so focused in our thoughts, that we look around us and see nothing that makes us laugh, smile, or lifts our spirits.  We can become mired in life’s difficulties.  

The vision of the swamp came just two days after the vision above.  Through this vision, God was showing me that my attitude about the church, and the uncertainty of the near future, was affecting me.  My prayers and intercession started to run a bit negative. Now I was the complainer. This was definitely offensive to God. He wants us to pray with faith, and conviction that with the Lord, all things are possible. “The effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16 Negative thoughts on the other hand, undermine faith, and accomplish nothing.

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”  2 Corinthians 10:5

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”  Matthew 21:22   

The vision of the swamp was a scene of death.  God wants us to speak life into dead situations.  The passage often quoted, is Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones. (Ezekiel 37 1-14) The question that the Spirit of the Lord asked him was: “Son of man, can these bones live?”  If you are familiar with the passage, we see that  the Lord asked Ezekiel to prophesy to the bones. Then the Lord said to prophesy to the breath, and suddenly there was an entire army that came to life and stood to their feet.  

What did Ezekiel do?  He prophesied to the bones that they should live, and to the breath that it should enter them.  We need to do the same. Scripture tells us that The Lord spoke and the earth came to be. The Lord says, “...so is my word that goes out from my mouth:  It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”  Isaiah 55:11  

God has given us the same authority. When we speak in the name of Jesus, our words will accomplish their task and not return void.  Jesus said, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it will obey you.”  Luke 17:6

Because the Lord gives us power, it is our job to use it for his divine purposes.  We have the power to bless and to curse.  “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.”  Proverbs 18:21

How I think about the church, and my relationship to it, matters to God.  We need to see things from his perspective. I had become critical and negative in my thoughts.  The view of my circumstances caused me concern and apprehension. God was showing me that without taking my thoughts captive, I created a problem - the swamp.

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.”  Deuteronomy 30:19

So we need to be careful to watch the words that come from our mouths and watch the thoughts that enter our minds, because we affect our circumstances by our attitudes.  Choose life!

A Quilt 

The next day I received another vision.  I saw a large piece of fabric that had been created by sewing several panels of fabric together.  Each panel was primarily rectangular with one of its edges being a half circle. These rounded ends overlapped another panel of the same size with the same shape, causing the final piece in a series to be a scalloped edge.  

Some of the fabrics were prints, and some solids.  Every piece was tremendously large. Then I saw a very large hand take hold of the fabric, and with an equally large needle and thread, sew several blanket stitches.  These stitches aligned with the seams, however they stopped at the spring line where the arch of the rounded end began.

I felt like this was a mistake.  I believed it to be the wrong stitch for the piece, since there was a scalloped edge, that the stitches made no sense.  I wanted to see smaller quilting stitches follow the seam lines, and a tight satin stitch to finish the raw edge of the scallop.  

I knew that this vision was about God’s point of view being quite different than mine.  The Lord’s perspective is so much greater and higher than ours, because he sees the whole, we may only see in part.  While in the vision, I judged the stitching as wrong, or in appropriate, having based my judgment solely on the piece that I saw. After the vision, of course I came to the realization, that God was allowing me to only see a small piece of the whole.  No wonder we get ourselves into trouble when we have such a narrow viewpoint.

I believe, the Lord wants us to conclude that his ways are better.  “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.  ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”  Isaiah 55:9  

The Lord wanted me to go to this church for a reason.  And even though I did not understand, nor did I want to go, it was my job to be obedient.  II know in time, that he will reveal his purpose. So I must be patient, knowing that I only see a small part of the whole.  

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and disclose the motives of the hearts.  Then each one’s praise will come from God.”  1 Corinthians 4:5 

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open.”  Luke 8:17 

So let’s pray for each other, to see things from an eternal perspective.  We are here on this earth only for such a short time. We cannot be bogged down in personal issues. There is a greater plan for us, and we need to be fulfilling our calling.  He is calling us to draw near, and to come up higher.  “Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.”  James 4:8

He is calling us to love one another, and to live at peace with one another. “If it is possible, live at peace among all men as much as it depends upon you.” Romans 12:18  

He is calling us to a life of freedom in the Spirit, and to be his bond servant. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.“ 2 Corinthians 3:17 And,“You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”  1 Corinthians 6:19-20

If we simply focus on the Lord, and exalt him—everything changes. I know that I may be feeling apprehensive, until I begin to worship him and then suddenly there is nothing else that is important. It is simply a joy to be in the presence of God! Wow! Come Lord Jesus!

Thanks for reading! Please pass this along to a friend.  And may God bless you!