Faith And Vision

Acts 2:14-21

Your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. (Acts 2:17)

THE HOLY SPIRIT FELL ON believers in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, and Peter saw it as a fulfillment of a prophecy from the book of Joel. Not everything in that prophecy happened that day—there was no blood and smoke, and the sun did not turn dark—but that didn’t matter. The Spirit’s advent was a sign of God’s ultimate plans, the beginning of a new era, the dawn of the age to come. For centuries, God had given words and visions to occasional priests and prophets, even assuring his people that his works were always preceded by prophetic vision (Amos 3:7). Now prophetic vision would no longer be exclusive to those uniquely gifted to see; it was available to everyone. When the Spirit came upon God’s people, the things of the Spirit came upon them too.

If God is a communicator of vision, and if vision is available to everyone who believes, then he means for us to live and move with it—to be motivated by vision, to hold it in our hearts and minds and pray it into reality, to cultivate the pictures of his Kingdom and speak them forth. In a sense, that’s how all human beings live; we picture the future and think of ways to make it happen according to our desires. We are dreamers by nature. But now we do it in partnership with God—not crafting our own dreams but letting ourselves be filled with his, cultivating a vision that draws us deeper into his calling. We delight in him and let his desires mingle with ours until they reflect his Kingdom purposes. We move in sync with the Spirit.

If God calls you to live by vision, you have to have one—or many. When you pray, envision the answer. In fact, the picture can often be your prayer; it’s worth more than a thousand words. When you love, envision its power. When you speak, envision the transformation that comes. Not everything will unfold with the specifics you see, but it will often unfold in the spirit you see it. God’s Kingdom comes through the vision he gives his people.

{Lord, cultivate my vision. Allow me to see the unseen, to walk by faith, to live fully in the spiritual realm. Use my dreams, desires, and visions to bring your purposes about. Amen.