As I was doing my devotional this morning, I caught a glimpse of a cat outside as he tiptoed across my yard. He wasn’t bothering me, but just to be mischievous, I tapped the window to scare him. He seemed determined to continue on his course. His back two legs didn’t change their stance, but his front two legs and head turned arrogantly to size up his adversary beyond the glass. He locked his emerald eyes with mine as if they were lazar guns and gave me a moment’s gaze. His posture didn’t change. He didn’t alter his agenda because of his enemy. He knew where he was going. His head rotated and he fixed his focus back on his journey. He continued on as if to say, “You don’t scare me. You’re more of a nuisance than a threat.”
I turned back to my devotional. Cats can’t talk but God can. I heard His message loud and clear:
That is how your posture should be against your own enemy.
God uses all kinds of pictures to teach.
When circumstances or people threaten you or try to scare you off track, when everything looks like chaos, you have to have the vision of God. You need His vision to see past the obvious and to keep focused on your journey. You need His vision to see past what is right in front of your face and see through to what is on the other side.
If your issues are boomerang issues that keep coming back no matter how hard you try to escape, ask yourself these questions: Is God allowing this adversity? Is He using this issue because He is trying to accomplish something in me? If so, ask God to show you what He is trying to do. This is so opposite of what the world teaches, but adversity is the material God uses to mold us into His image. God is in the middle of chaos. He uses chaos to create. When the world was without form and darkness hovered over the waters of the deep (Gen 1), He saw past the emptiness and confusion. He created something out of nothing and He still does that today!
It’s not easy to see things from God’s perspective. Capturing his vision is like being able to see the image in a 3D picture. It takes a lot of focus and relaxed concentration (a sort of contradiction in itself) to be able to see what’s behind the obvious. What is past the initial reality? What is beyond the first dimension? Then we have to choose to get our vision in alignment with what is beyond our present reality so that we can get into agreement with what God wants to accomplish in the future.
He allows adversity to accomplish His purposes. He makes beauty out of ashes. He creates a pearl from an irritant. He creates a diamond out of a lump of coal and tremendous pressure. Likewise, adversity comes to strengthen us. But often we choose to back down and run the other way. We all get a second chance though. When we run away from God’s obstacle course, He will reposition us for another. We can’t escape His will for us, which is to mold us into the image of his son. Until he sees Jesus in us, we are a work in progress. Surrender your life to the Potter. When we sit at His wheel. He molds our lump of clay into a beautiful vessel.
Prayer: Father, help me to capture your vision and persepective. May your Holy Spirit alert me when I am easy prey to the enemy’s schemes. And when I resist your work in the midst of difficulties, help me to surrender and trust that you are working circumstances out for my good. In Jesus name. Amen.
Questions to Ponder:
- What circumstances are you facing that you need God’s vision for?
- Do you think God is allowing your adversity? If so, what do you think He is trying to accomplish in you through your difficulties?
- How can you tell the difference between adversity God is allowing and an attack from the enemy?
- Describe a time when you were able to see beyond your present difficulties. How did you capture God’s vision to endure? How did it affect the outcome?
Thanks Chip,I was about to give up in homeschool. It’s my first time, and God has given me the first opiurtonpty ever out of my whole entire family to homeschool at a christian school. It’s amazing, my walk with the Lord has gotten so strong, I have learned a lot, yet most of the time I’d get stuck because it was also very challenging. It’s almost a yr now. I was supposed to graduate in 9 months but because I’m behind, I’m not even sure I’ll be graduating. I cry because I’m so scared, like my life’s going to end. I don’t know but you really gave me hope. I also got very depressed because school takes up all my time, I don’t have friends to hang around with due to my busy schedule, and well I have family problems. Thanks Chip you have helped me a lot, and thank You Lord for not giving up on me.