by Heike Staiger
This year’s blogpost theme is “Vision”. There are some very well-known people in the Bible who had a vision that was like a guideline or direction for their life. Here are just a few known examples:
- Paul on his way to Damascus (Acts 9)
- Paul´s vision of the man of Macedonia (Acts 16)
- Abram received the Word of the Lord in a vision (Genesis 15)
- Joseph´s dreams (Genesis 37)
- Isaiah´s commission (Isaiah 6)
You may ask: “What about me? I have never had such a vision, such a supernatural vision from God for my life. Can the Lord not use me? Does He not want to use me?” Yes, He can, and yes, He wants to use you for His Kingdom!
You might never have had such a supernatural appearance or encounter with God, but a vision does not only come through such a supernatural experience.
Have you ever thought that a vision might be just an idea or a dream that lives in your heart and motivates you? Have you thought that it might be a passion and love in your heart that stirs you to do specific things?
Let’s look at a lady in the Old Testament who had such a vision in her heart, something that stirred her into going along the path she took.
A lady who had no supernatural vision from God
We talk about Ruth, a Moabite woman, a heathen. She married a foreigner, who came to Moab because of a famine in the land. He assumingly did not follow her way of life and her way of worship, but what she saw in him and his family changed her life forever. We know her husband passed away and a small family was left behind, her widowed sister-in-law and her mother-in-law.
When the famine was over and her mother-in-law Naomi wanted to return to the land of Judah, Ruth insisted she would come with her. She was ready to leave everything behind that was part of her origin – her family, (maybe her parents were still alive, or she had siblings), and her upbringing, (the way of life, the kind of worship, the things she was taught from childhood on).
She declared:
“…For wherever you go, I will go;
And wherever you lodge, I will lodge;
Your people shall be my people,
And your God, my God.“
Ruth 1:16 NKJV
What a statement and at the same time an explanation for her reaction. In these words, we can see why she was ready to leave everything behind! “Your God is my God!” This was the driving force in her life!
Did Ruth have a vision like Paul? I don’t think so, but she saw the life of her husband, and Naomi´s life.
The Bible does not tell us about her husband’s life, if he was a prayer, a worshipper and followed the commands of his God whilst he was in Moab, neither does the Bible give us details about Naomi´s life there, but we see that Ruth’s life was deeply impacted through them.
By the way … Naomi means “pleasant” or “delightful”1.
However, when she came back to Bethlehem,
she asked to be called Mara, which represents bitterness (Ruth 1:20).
Although Naomi felt like being bitter and certainly was not
as happy and pleasant as before,
still Ruth could see such a different life compared to her people in Moab!
What a wonderful woman Naomi must have been whilst in Bethlehem,
and whilst in Moab with her husband and her two sons alive!
Ruth saw what a life with the living God looked like, and it was so different in comparison to the life and worship she knew from her homeland Moab.
Somewhere she must have decided that she wanted to live such a life, to stay with her mother-in-law, to be among God´s people, and to follow this God. It was so vital that she was ready to leave everything behind to go with Naomi. Although she, as a Moabite, according to the law, would not even be allowed to enter the assembly of the Lord (Deuteronomy 23). Still, she declared: “Your God will be my God!”
You might think this is not a vision. I would consider it a vision. Ruth might not have had a supernatural experience with God, or received a specific calling from God, but she followed that which was alive in her heart. She was ready to serve the One whom she knew was the living God, and she was more than loyal and committed to her mother-in-law. This became the driving force in her life, and was the vision she wanted to follow at the cost of leaving everything else behind.
We know the end of the story, how God used Ruth, as through her bloodline Jesus was born! God used her in a most wonderful way, as she followed Him, as she followed the vision and passion that was in her heart.
Another example of a man in our day and age who did not have a supernatural vision, from my knowledge.
A man with no supernatural vision received from God
When I was a young believer, I heard the story of Pastor Bill Wilson, and I never forgot it. He was abandoned as a child on the streets by his mother, and a Christian man helped him. Pastor Bill got born again, and later he has helped so many children who had been in very difficult situations as he had been, to meet the Lord. He knew that only God´s love can heal and restore, and God has a special plan for each one, no matter what the circumstances might be.2
From what I remember, Pastor Bill never had a vision in the sense of a supernatural experience with God, nor a specific call from the Lord, but He moves with what is in his heart – love and compassion for children in the same difficult circumstances as he had been. He follows what is in his heart, and if we look now at the results, thousands upon thousands of children have been reached globally. He followed his heart, and what the Lord put in there, and the Lord used him mightily to reach children in different nations.
What about you? What does your heart beat for?
What about you? You might not have had a supernatural experience with the Lord where you received a vision from Him. But what did the Lord put in your heart? In which areas, and for what do you have a passion?
Do you have a heart, a love for a certain nation, or a heart for certain people? Is your heart beating to serve elderly people? Do you love to teach children, or to help the helpless? Have you experienced very difficult things in life, and want to help others to overcome it? Are you a mother, and want to see more than anything else, that your children are raised in the ways of the Lord, and will follow Him?
Please do not consider this as not having a vision. The Lord has put a specific burden in your heart, He has given you a passion. Be encouraged to seek the Lord about it in prayer, as to how He wants to use this passion and love He has put in your heart. Be encouraged to get confirmation from your leadership and to take steps forward in these things. so that the Lord can use you to advance His Kingdom.
References
New King James Version (NKJV)
1 https://bibledictionarytoday.com/biblical-names/naomi/
2 https://www.metroworldchild.org/founder/