Lift your vision higher and see
the Lord. This line from this song
keeps playing repeatedly in my head.
We are in the days of choosing
to lift our vision to a place we’ve never seen the Lord before. We're to
see Him in the areas where we have not allowed Him to be Lord. We're
learning to see the Lord within situations where in times past we’ve
been unable to trust. As we choose to lift our vision in worship, we
begin to see Him in new ways. It's by His grace we are moved from one
place of faith and trust to another. We are being prepared for a life
style of worship. He is faithful to show us the high places within our
hearts – those places where we do not trust – the places where we have
erected altars to other things (gods).
Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it
springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the
wilderness and rivers in the desert. The wild beasts will honor me, the
jackals and the ostriches; for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in
the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed
for myself that they might declare my praise. Isaiah 43:20-21
Many of us are in a place of
choosing not to look back and not to seek Him in the ways that are
familiar to us. We're in faith - reaching beyond the past limits of our
own experiences; choosing to move to the next level of grace. It’s easy
to become comfortable and not keep moving in faith to a higher place of
trust. If we're seeking Him in the former things, we will not be looking
for the new things. We're to make decisions; choose to move in His new
mercies every day.
The enemy seeks to broadside us
in plain sight while we watch, causing us to be pushed off course and
lose our focus. We will be so stunned by the action we won’t realize
what is happening, but we will watch while thinking - what is going on?
Why is this happening? The enemy is seeking to have us return to
the familiar or to places where we feel confident. The Lord wants us to
move forward into new requirements - into increasing levels of faith.
God does not call us to do something because we have ability. His call
is a test of our response to that which we do not understand. He's
looking at our heart; we're looking on the outward appearance and asking
how we could possibly make this situation work? Our focus is to remain
on the Lord and not to look back.
For I am sure that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in
all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ
Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
The only things separating us
from the love of God are those things from the past or those things,
which have become familiar to us. We can become so comfortable and
wrapped up in loyalty we keep looking back. We are to choose to lift our
vision higher and see the Lord in a new way, which is beyond our
experience and our thinking. Seek the Lord, the creator, rather than
with the familiar mind-sets we have towards our situations and
circumstances. When we lift our vision higher, we see the Lord in ways
that the limits of our past have not allowed us to see Him.
We're not to look back to the
way it was, the good times, or when He came through for us or even our
experiences in God for answers, for He is doing a new thing. We're to
remember the things of old but not to look to them. We are not to dwell
on those things. We are to follow the Holy Spirit, with a longing for
the higher vision. Many of us will be faced with a choice between that
which looks like it’s something God has done in the past, or to choose
to go forward with what He’s saying now, even when we cannot see what is
on the other side - a way we've never been before.
But Jesus said to him, "Follow
me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." And when he got into the
boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm
on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was
asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, "Save, Lord; we are
perishing." And he said to them, "Why are you afraid, O men of little
faith?" Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a
great calm. Matt 8:22-26
Jesus said to follow him. They
were going to the other side. We are not to question the circumstance or
what appears to be, but in faith, continue to move forward on what the
Lord has said. As we move on the power of His spoken word, He will
arrange the situations and circumstance to come into alignment with what
He’s doing. His word to us is tested so we have the opportunity to see
the areas where need to lift our vision and see the Lord. It’s on the
other side of the storms that we see how we’ve been moved from one level
of faith to another. Peter walked on the Word not on the water.
