““Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” Mt. 7:15
Many years ago, a pastor at a church I visited a few times told those of us in the congregation to pray to God for His vision for us, write it all down, and believe it would all come to pass. He took a verse from the Bible, showed us how he believed it fit his homework assignment for us, and told us to get to work.
It didn’t take me long to come up with a magnificent vision, convince myself it was from the Lord, and off I went. Within a very short while, I reported back to the pastor that I was moving a long distance away and that God had provided much more than I could possibly have fathomed He would provide from my vision. Yes, from “my” vision.
The pastor and I were both in awe of what we agreed the Lord had given me as His vision, and how the Lord was now bringing to pass what His vision for me was. Truly, it was astounding in the way of right down to the details. Anyone hearing it would have been amazed. There was only one problem. One very, very big problem.
The vision was not the Lord’s. And I had become so caught up in this idea of seeking the Lord for His vision, and of hearing it, and of having it come to pass if I only had enough faith, that I not only failed to realize the pastor was teaching what I now know is a false “prosperity gospel”, but I failed to see the biggest mistake of all I had made.
I had made “the vision” more important than the Lord Himself. I was so caught up in what I believed the Lord would do, and, when I was honest with myself, what I WANTED THE LORD TO DO AND BELIEVED HE SHOULD AND WOULD DO, that I had lost almost total sight of the Lord Himself. It had become all about waving my magic wand up toward the heavens and getting God to do what I believed He would do.
My fall was quick. My fall was hard. And my fall was necessary. I have since learned that there is NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT IN THE UNIVERSE THAN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, that GOD WILL BRING TO PASS HIS VISION FOR OUR LIVES, and that when God does in fact show us in advance something He plans to do, it is HIS WILL FOR HIS PLAN AND HIS PURPOSE FOR HIS GLORY. I had made the whole vision homework assignment all about me, what I wanted, and what I expected from God for my sake. The Lord not long afterward led me to repentance for all the prosperity false teaching I had been under, led me away from the churches and pastors teaching it, and began the long slow day by day process of His Spirit through His Word teaching me the truth about Himself and His Word. FOR HIS GLORY!