Complete the Vision

Ecclesiastes 5:3

3For a dream comes through much activity, And a fool's voice is known by his many words.

The NKJV Study Bible translation of what King Solomon says in this scripture is very powerful as it relates to what Jesus said hundreds of years later. "We also sin with our speech when we make a pledge we do not keep." Jesus said it as, "Let your yes be your yes and no be your no."

A dream is defined by Merriam-Webster's Dictionary as 1) a series of thoughts, images, or emotions occurring during sleep; 2) a dreamlike vision: daydream, reverie; 3) something notable for its beauty, excellence, or enjoyable quality; 4) ideal.  And one of Job's friends stated a truth that God speaks in many ways. The Bible records multiple times how God has spoken to people during their sleep/visions/dreams. When I read this scripture I keep seeing, "a dream is birthed through much activity."

When Joseph had his dream and shared it with his brothers, his focus was on his brothers bowing down to him. But what he didn't see was that God was going to use his gifts to help a nation during a famine. What if Joseph refused to use his gift in prison because of his situation? What if Joseph refused to see beyond himself? How many people would've died? For Moses, the deliver, that God sent, was a descendant and raised by those in the land that God used Joseph in.

We live in a society that is so attention deficient that as quick as we see something we forget. There are so many images thrown at us day to day that it is hard not to become distracted. However, when God gives you something, and you begin to act on it, He expects you to complete it unless He gives you direction otherwise. Your trials are for the purpose of persevering as it says in the book of James. But whatever vision/dream that God gave you to complete through the gifts He placed in you, know that it is not simply about you.

I think back to what I told the Lord when I was in the emergency room eight years ago. I told Him if He spared me, I'd do what He called me to do. I think back to that time. And I look at the years that followed. The gifts God desired me to use over the years were still tied to the futures of others, including my love, whom God just called home. If I simply looked at my hurt, my pain, the visions of others, the healing of others, the growth in faith of others may have been severely delayed.

It is a privilege to dream. It is an even greater privilege to birth one. Don't let a God given dream nor gifts die because of attention deficiency. Someone's future will be affected. Nothing in this life is simply about you.