Seeing the Light

Over the years, I have become convinced that in the Christian life at least two things are certain: God never changes, and we are always changing. Our life as a Christian is a continual transition from one place to another, one level to another, one understanding to another. The purpose of spiritual light is to bring us into change and growth. The more light we have, the more change we experience, and the more we change (for the better) the more we are brought into higher levels of glory. Unless we are in constant transition, we will stop somewhere along the way and settle down. The Christian life is a frontier. God did not call us to be settlers but to be pilgrims and pioneers.

This is the point of Paul’s prayer in the first chapter of Ephesians:

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him..that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe (Eph 1.17-19a).

The more enlightenment we have, the more wisdom and revelation we are open to receive, and the greater understanding we can develop of the hope of His calling, the glory of His inheritance, and surpassing greatness of His power as they apply to our lives.

Once, years ago, I was in a particularly troubling time of transition and was seeking the Lord’s guidance. Different voices and different people were speaking to me, wanting me to join this team or do that ministry or whatever, and I was confused. I simply did not know what the Lord wanted me to do.

As I was up early one morning seeking the Lord, I had an experience. While praying on the living room couch early that morning, I watched through the sliding glass door as the sun rose. For one short moment, a beam of sunlight coming through the Venetian blinds lit across my forehead, and the thought came to me, "I will give you a shaft of revelation light." In that moment all my confusion dissipated. I did not hear anything or have any internal knowing of what my decision was to be. My Spirit was simply at rest in the confident knowledge that the Lord was revealing it to me.

What is the hope of the Lord’s calling on your life? Ask him to give you a vision of it, and don’t stop asking. Keep on looking until you see it. Don’t look just for a project or for something to do; look for a vision of Him! Pray that the eyes of your heart will be enlightened and your spiritual vision enhanced. Ask that a revelatory shaft of light would enter your spirit so that you would know the hope and the expectation of good for your life. Remember that what you keep in front of your eyes is what you will become. Present your eyes, your mind, you heart - your whole self - to the Lord and ask Him to grant you the spirit of revelation. Ask Him for the vision that will sustain you.

- Jim Goll - in his book "The Seer"