From the Land of Oz
“God gives us a vision, and then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision. It is in the valley that so many of us give up and faint. Every God-given vision will become real if we will only have patience. God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape, until we get to the point where He can trust us with the reality of the vision. Ever since God gave us the vision, He has been at work. The vision that God gives is not some unattainable castle in the sky, but a vision of what God wants you to be down here. Allow the Potter to put you on His wheel and whirl you around as He desires. Then as surely as God is God, and you are you, you will turn out as an exact likeness of the vision. But don’t lose heart in the process. If you have ever had a vision from God, you may try as you will to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never allow it.”
– Oswald Chambers, My Utmost For His Highest
This quote from Oswald Chambers is one of the most influential ones in my life in the last ten years or so. It was pivotal in my making a major decision that influenced us to be where we are now – geographically. It also speaks to the fact that regardless of how old we are – chronologically – God is the One who gives us the vision to begin with, and “takes us down into the valley to batter us into the shape of that vision.” I often ask myself, can He now trust me with the reality of the vision?