So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. ~ Acts 26:19
READING: Acts 26:19-22
The vision Paul was referring to was the divine vision he saw on the road to Damascus, twenty-three years before, in which Jesus Himself gave him the mission of witnessing and spreading the gospel. Paul had been consistently and progressively obedient to the vision, even at great personal cost of being imprisoned and “about to be killed,” which denotes laying down his whole life for the God-given vision. Painful episodes in his mission-vision journey and ministry challenges did not defeat his vision.
While working for an engineering company in India, I used to support many servants of God financially. I had the privilege of supporting a couple. He was a qualified printing engineer working for a huge printing press prior to his obedience to the vision of God, which led him to plant a church in a suburban area in Chennai, India. Obedience to God-given vision led him to extreme poverty. Experiencing poverty with a young wife and twin babies is not amiable. On one visit to his home I noticed his new-born babies were fed with the diluted form of the water used to cook rice. In India it used to be a hot beverage for extremely poverty-stricken adults.
The Indian Churches claim 7 to 10 percent of the nation’s population as Christians. Perhaps the number is even higher. Beneath this glamorous figure there are many silent, sacrificial heroes of the faith of which Indian church history is not aware. Knowing your vision is “of God” will energize you to accomplish your vision. “Laying whole life” of a visionary makes him to be obedient to his God-given vision in all adverse days of his journey.
Lord, Strengthen me that I may continue to obey that vision consistently as I pass through my mission-journey. Amen.
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