I have prayed much lately for a vision – a specific, scripture-based picture of where God would have me to go and what He would have me to do. I have prayed this for myself, for my family, and for my new Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) community here at Fort Meade. I KNOW He has a plan – He always does. I also know His plan is grander than I could imagine. I am learning to expect such things.
God knows the longing of my heart for a vision, though. I truly believe He ingrained that in me. The vision I desire is not one that outlines every specific step to take between here and my destination, nor is it a high-resolution picture of that destination. The vision I seek is to have a specific scripture, to know the heart of God, so that when I take the steps I believe He has directed I can check my alignment with the big picture – a plumb line as Amos puts it (Amos 7:7-8).
In the day-to-day walk of life, I tend to get caught up in the details. When I do this, I get so near-sighted that I end up off the path. I saw this in action yesterday. I was helping my son practice learning to ride his bike without training wheels. I would hold on to the back of his seat and he would work on balance and pedaling. I noticed after a while that he would start to wander of our intended destination because he was watching his feet pedal and the front wheel go around. To help him balance and reach our objective, I had to help him (and remind him) to look at the point in the distance and focus on that – while still pedaling.
It worked. He is not riding perfectly. But with mom’s help in the balance arena, he actually gets where he was going. That is my prayer in this vision. To be able to see, even if a little blurry the destination He has in mind or at least an outline of the path, while he holds onto the back of my seat and I pedal my heart out. I know God has a vision for all of my life – these three areas included. I ask for scripture because it is more concrete that my memory.
I have seen God’s track record in my life and understand David’s cry at the altar when he said, “Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?” (2 Samuel 7:18b). I also recognize more and more the promise of Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”
I know what He has done. I have seen just a piece of what He can do. And I cannot wait to see what He does. To Him be the glory.
Christine Washburn says
I love the bike-riding metaphor, I can totally relate because I was helping my daughter ride without training wheels this weekend. It is such a relief to know that God is always there, holding on to the back of our seat.