How's Your Vision?

How’s your vision?

The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they made ready, he fell into a trance Acts 10:9-10 (NKJV)

Yesterday, we discussed how Paul received a vision of a man begging for his help in Macedonia . This vision was instrumental in Paul discerning a door that God had opened for him. But this isn't the only instance where God used a vision to reveal His will.

In Acts Chapter 10, Peter went to the top of a house to pray, where he suddenly fell into a trance and was given a vision by God. Up to that point, Peter had assumed Jesus came to save Jews but not Gentiles. The vision God gave Peter showed him it was just as much God's will for Gentiles to be saved through faith in Christ as it was Jews (Acts 10:11-16).

It was an important step forward in God's will for both Peter and the Church.

"So, should I expect my life to be filled with visions?" Let's go back to that word trance, which is "a condition where a person's normal state of mind is temporarily suspended." While we see that a vision can be biblical, we also need to see that by very definition it's not normal.

Here's the balance we need to strike when it comes to visions: We need to be open to the possibility that God may use them in our lives, but we need to temper this with the understanding that they are unusual.

It's a big red flag if someone is constantly talking about a "vision" or "revelation" God gave him or her. Again, it's not the norm. However, if someone with the reputation of being stable-minded receives something similar to what Peter and Paul experienced, and if it doesn't contradict anything we see in scripture, then it's quite possible God gave it to them.

Visions should never be the primary or only means of discerning God's will, but they can be used to get us to see things God's way.


Think about it…


Answai T. White, B.S., M.Div.