We’re generally ready for things to start happening once God places a vision on our hearts. We can see the good, however dimly, and our eager anticipation is ready to taste its fullness today. But sometimes the vision God gives us is still yet for another time. It’s on the way, but it has not yet arrived.
This was the case with Joseph. He was 17 years old when God first gave him the dreams of what was to happen. But it was not until he was 30 that these dreams were fully realized. To be sure, this waiting time was not wasted. And his dreams likely gave him hope during those dark days.
The same is often true for us. We have a dream for the work we’ve been called to do, the relationships we’d love to have, and the life we would like to live. And these are not just wishful fantasies. We sense God is the author of our vision. But while we have this certainty, we’re often left still bewildered because our current life doesn’t match the vision he has given us. In fact, it seems at times as if our path is heading in the opposite direction.
We must remember God’s ways are not our ways, and that his timeline is much different than our own.
Of course, it never hurts to pray for confirmation and the discernment to faithfully follow where the Spirit is leading us. At the same time, we must learn to exercise our patience and hope.
Even though we don’t see the fullness of our vision today, by faith we trust God is working things out and has a place for all the twists and turns in our story. And it’s the hope of what’s to come that allows us to keep enduring. Otherwise our disappointment of not having our vision today causes us to give up prematurely.
In the end, hold tight to the vision God has given you even if it has not yet arrived. He has not forgotten and will work all things out at just the right time.
Photo by Bro Takes Photos on Unsplash
