| |
|
Death
of a Vision!
Christian Devotional by Pastor Cecil Thompson
Pastor
Cecil Thompson |
Exodus 5:4-8
"That
same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and
foremen in charge of the people: 'You are no longer to supply
the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and
gather their own straw. But require them to make the same
number of bricks as before; don't reduce the quota. They
are lazy; that is why they are crying out, 'Let us go and
sacrifice to our God.'"
The birth of our vision is often accompanied
by a mighty---Ooops! We are all fired up when the vision is
fresh and new, but almost without warning things explode. Instead of seeing
our vision fulfilled, it is like death has destroyed the vision. "What
do we do now?"
Moses had the vision of leading his people out of bondage to
the land God had promised them. I am sure he had visions of Pharaoh being
ready to let the people go. Instead, their workload was increased. Now
he was in the middle. He was the enemy of Pharaoh for being God's messenger
of deliverance, and also now not too popular with his own people since
he had just increased their toil and hardship.
I can almost hear Moses looking toward heaven and crying out
at the top of his voice, "Stop the world, I want to get off!" That
was not an option that God had given to him. The purpose of the
vision was still there---the timing was not yet fulfilled.
It is important for us to realize that the men and women of the
Bible were no plaster saints. They had all of the human emotions that
we have today. Their sense of loss and frustration was every bit as devastating
as our bitter pills.
Yesterday I also spoke about the vision which God had given to
Abraham. It sounded wonderful when it was given, but the death of Abraham's
vision was the realization that both he and Sarah, his wife, were far
past the child-producing age. All that was left of his forest of God's
promise was just dead timber. Each passing year only drove another nail
into the coffin of his vision of fatherhood.
Joseph had a vision of being a son that was honored by his brothers.
The death of his vision was being sold into slavery, falsely accused,
thrown into a prison, forgotten by Pharaoh's butler, who had made a promise
to mention his false imprisonment. It was like he experienced death after
death.
There is a truth that rings loud and clear in all of these
illustrations of death. It is not the end!!! I love a quote
that Sir Winston Churchill made after the Germans had given
up their plans for the invasion of Great Britain. Sir Winston
said something like this: "This is not the end!
This is not the beginning of the end! But this is the end of
the beginning!"
In the lives of God's precious people there will be shattered
dreams and the death of a vision. This is almost a certainty. Perhaps
the only time we will not encounter them is when we have no vision in
the first place. That is the real tragedy in the life of a Christian.
We have to have a birth of vision in order to encounter death, and without
death, there is no resurrection of the vision.
Please do not experience depression after reading today's E-Votional.
We are about to share the pure joy that God gives as He brings supernatural
life into that vision once considered dead. God wants to make sure that
it is dead from our human standpoint, so we will not take the credit and
become proud. It is to His glory that the vision will be resurrected.
Just wait until tomorrow!
Blessings dear hearts. Walk with God today. Trust Him completely and
be a blessing.
--- Pastor Cecil
©
MMVIII, The GOOD BOOK Company, All Rights Reserved.
The GOOD BOOK Company, L.L.C.
302 N. Washington Ave., Centralia, WA 98531, U.S.A.
Email: info@thegoodbookcompany.com
Phone
Order Line: 1-888-808-0070
or 360-330-0195 for
Christian
Book Store - Christian Posters - Christian Art - Christian
Music - Gifts
|
|
