9 I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O Lord,
thou knowest. 10 I have not
hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness
and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth
from the great congregation. –Psalm 40:9, 10 (KJV)
I find we often become so fixed on our problems that we forget the blessings God is willing to pour out on us. Followers of Christ must catch a vision of what we can do, accomplish, and become in Jesus’ name. Allow God to plant a vision in our hearts and let the vision come into our minds. By faith, God will make the vision a reality. I have to be careful with this, because I do not want to sound like positive thinking is enough. Positive thinking is great as long as we are prayerfully moving forward in faith. God gives a vision, we take hold of the vision, picture the vision becoming a reality, and then prayerfully and faithfully move forward. Over a year ago, I decided to try something I had pondered for several years, but never had the nerve to try. One day, I went to the eye doctor for an exam, and I announced I wanted to try contact lenses. The eye doctor, bless her heart, was delighted, and said there was no reason I could not. She taught me how to wear them, gave me the contacts, and sent me off. The first month I came close to giving up. However, I persevered; I imagined myself wearing contact lenses and reveling in the freedom of not wearing glasses. Over a year later and I am enjoying wearing contacts. A blessing came because I pursued a vision. This seems like a small thing, but it gave me a wonderful sense of accomplishment.
Often times we give up on a vision without ever trying. When God gives the vision He makes a way for it to become reality. The reason David was empowered to do God’s will was because he loved God, God’s Word was in his heart, and he desired to do God’s will. I wonder if when David, as a teenager, walked onto the battlefield to fight Goliath, if he pictured in his mind a victory. I believe he did just that. By faith, he took down a giant with a sling and a stone. God gave him the vision of what could happen if he was faithful, and the Lord made it a reality.
None of this comes about without faithfulness and sacrifice. If walking in spiritual victory were easy, everyone would be doing it. Are all believers walking in power and victory? The answer is no, because doing so is costly, challenging, and takes us way out of our comfort zones. John Henry Jowett said, “Ministry that costs nothing, accomplishes nothing.” To this I say, “Amen.”
God bless you today.
