January 7-
Your vision—you must ‘fulfil’ it! (1)
When a dream comes from God and you commit yourself to it, it will ‘surely’ be fulfilled. Yes, you’ll stumble, be stretched to new limits and maybe even stagger across the finish line, but you’ll make it. You’ll get to the Promised Land. Look at Moses: he had a history-changing message to deliver to Pharaoh, yet he was a poor speaker. He had marriage problems. He was a ‘sole trader’ who had to reach his breaking point before he learned to delegate responsibility to others. He had a problem with his temper and, as a result, God said,‘This is the land I promised…I have let you see it… but you will not cross over into it.’(Deuteronomy 34:4 NIV) But Moses finally got there! 1400 years later he stood with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration: right in the middle of it! You say, ‘I’ve failed so badly.’ David committed adultery, yet his psalms bring strength to multitudes and he’s quoted in pulpits around the world. God didn’t excuse David, but He forgave him and used him.‘…David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God…was buried…’(Acts 13:36 NKJV)
The Bible describes God as,‘…ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness…’(Nehemiah 9:17 NKJV) Notice the words ‘ready to pardon’. God is ready when you are, all you have to do is turn to Him. Before Habakkuk wrote about his vision, he said,‘I will…watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected.’(Habakkuk 2:1 NKJV) Corrected but not discarded! Isn’t that wonderful? That’s how God’s grace works.
Your vision—you must ‘fulfil’ it! (2)
There’s an interesting picture in Amos:‘…A shepherd who tries to rescue a sheep from a lion’s mouth will recover only two legs or a piece of an ear. So it will be…’(Amos 3:12 NLT) Picture Satan as that lion, you as that lamb, Jesus as that shepherd coming to pick up what’s left of you, and see how God brings victory out of defeat. Has life torn your dream to pieces?
With God, you only need two things for a comeback: (1)An ear to hear.Stop listening to voices that discourage you; it’s not over until God says it’s over! God told Ezekiel to prophesy to a valley full of dead, dry bones (Ezekiel 37:4):‘So I prophesied…and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army.’(Ezekiel 37:10 NKJV) Your hopes may be dead and your soul dry, but if you listen to what God is saying your dream will live again. (2)A leg to stand on. The God who gave Job twice as much at the end of his trouble as he started with before it, isn’t finished with you yet. Read what He’s promised and stand on His Word. Achan was stoned to death in the Valley of Achor for stealing the spoils after the battle of Jericho. End of story? No, later, God in His mercy said,‘I will give…the Valley of Achor as a door of hope…’(Hosea 2:15 NKJV) You may be living with your consequences, but by God’s grace you can still live to see your dream fulfilled.
