Attending To The Vision

Recently I attended a training summit and was asked this question: How faithfully do I tend to the dreams/ideas that God put into your heart? It was an excellent question that deserves to be revisited on a regular basis. But as I pondered the question, knowing immediately it was a direct stewardship question, I soon reflected on scripture. I talked with the Holy Spirit about the stewardship of the first Apostles. 

The first Apostles’ task of tending to dreams/ideas is different for us in many ways but similar in other ways. The first Apostles lived and travelled with Jesus for 3 years. They didn’t have an “idea” about ministry, as we know it. They were all very much engaged with their daily lives. They were not working as ministers of God. They weren’t following Jesus because it was their dream job/career. And of the 12, none has been rabbis. 

They lived and traveled with Jesus, which gave them nonstop discipleship. Their every movement was a learning experience. They didn’t have the same type of stewardship accountability as you and I at that point in their lives. 

Their stewardship for tending came after Jesus ascended into heaven. Then, they were in the position to faithfully tend to the dream or idea that God/Jesus had put into their heart. What they had seen and what it meant of the apostles who discuss their dreams/visions in their letters to churches. Today, I ask you to examine Peter’s account of his dream, with a question coming over his dream. 

How faithfully did Peter tend to the dream? 

Here is the context. Peter has gone onto the roof of a home to pray. The others who are traveling with Peter are not praying, but have gone into the kitchen. Peter is hungry; he isn’t fasting, because scripture says he would have eaten. Peter enters into a trance. He is awake but is captured by a scene being presented before his eyes. It’s a dream while awake. 

In this scene that God is providing to him, Peter sees heaven open. Peter sees a certain vessel descending unto him. The bible describes it as a great sheet that comes unto Peter. 

The sheet, like a mantle is unto Peter. Then Peter sees a problematic sight. He sees animals that the torah defines as unclean to the Jew. Seeing the unclean animals wasn’t the problem, when Peter hears a voice say “Rise Peter, kill and eat”. 

At this point Peter is in an immediate conflict because this was not an answer to his time in prayer. Peter was not about to accept that he was seeing even though it was a vision. Peter judged the trance to see if it be God. Peter said “NO! I have never eaten unclean or common thing.” At that point, it was clear that if asked, Peter would have stated clearly that he would not be attending to that vision. 

Have you received a vision/idea from God for which you immediately refused to attend? 

For a second time, Peter was instructed concerning the vision. “What God hath cleansed that call not thou common.” However Peter still refused to accept the vision. Still his answer was NO! 

In verse 16, he has to be told 3 times the same message, the same vision, and then the vessel was taken back up into heaven. Yet seeing it come down, hearing thrice and seeing it go back up, Peter according to verse 17, still doubted. Peter saw, Peter heard, but Peter didn’t know what it meant. 

Attending to any vision or idea given by God is dependent upon understanding what it means. Peter didn’t know what those unclean or common animals represented. While he was meditating on the vision, the men from Cornelius’ house came to Peter as they had been instructed by God. 

These men were not Jews. They were considered unclean/common because they weren’t Jewish. These men represented the animals in Peter’s trance. 

Peter went with them as requested. He preached or told them about Jesus and an entire family was saved, but it took a vision. 

Cornelius and his family wasn’t a bright idea for Peter. Peter attended a trance and in the end, a family was introduced to Jesus. That is a major paradigm shift. 

Peter went forward from there to attend to that one trance. Sometimes, he stumbled along the way but he kept attending faithfully to the trance. Peter didn’t sit up on the rooftop each day expecting God to send people to him like with Cornelius. No, he travelled and preached. 

Now, allow me to ask you this same stewardship questions. How faithfully are you tending to the dreams/visions you’ve received from God? 

What would hinder you? 

Photo by Karyme França from Pexels 

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