Pastor's Blog

Proverbs 29:18 tells us that when there is no vision the people perish (or it can mean they throw off all restraint, as we see in so much of today’s society—and therefore perish). The rest of the verse lets us know that the vision has to do with God’s Law (Hebrew, torah, "instruction," a term that includes the whole of God’s Holy Word).

In the 1906, Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles, California, a number of dreams and visions were recorded. My mother was 11 years old at the time. One day she was quite sick, but her father and mother did not want to miss the meeting. Wonderful things were happening in every service. So they prayed for her, tucked her in bed, and left her. Then she had a vision where she saw two trains on parallel tracks. At each station the young people on her train would go across to the other train and persuade people to come and join them on theirs. After a time, the other train veered away and she heard a terrible crash in the distance. Her train came into a beautiful station and she was ushered into a magnificent palace. She saw Jesus talking to a man. Their clothes were sparkling. She looked down and her dress was sparkling. Then Jesus pointed to her and said to the man, "See that little girl. I healed her." Then the vision ended and she got up from her bed totally healed. The next night she gave her testimony in the Azusa Street mission and this encouraged others to believe for healing.

Today, with the pressures of the world against Christians and the Bible, believers, young and old, need to be encouraged to be open to God-given dreams and visions. The Holy Spirit wants to use them to encourage us to trust God, believe His Word, and rejoice in the hope of the future that His Word promises.