She was standing there with her eyes shut. Her head slightly tilted back, letting her blonde waves flow effortlessly in the wind. Her arms hung by her sides, palms facing the bright blue sky. A gentle smile crept onto her fair skin. White angels swiftly circled her like a whirlwind. They appeared as soldiers dressed in pure white armor, with strong, white staffs in both hands. They moved so quickly that they seemed nothing more than bright shadows blending into the wind. They were a shield around her. They were setting her free.
This was a vision that I had about a friend of mine two years ago during my sophomore year of college. I had a heart hungry for prayer that day. I’d been sitting at the top floor of a building on campus by myself, eating my lunch and petitioning to my God about my friends. I’d asked this friend of mine how I could be praying for her. She was struggling with believing some destructive lies from the Enemy, and she wasn’t feeling equipped to combat them. So I prayed for her and instead of speaking, I saw.
Immediately after this image took place in my mind, I thought I should text her. I didn’t know what it meant, but maybe it would encourage her. Uplift her or something.
Her devotional that morning told her to write all of her insecurities in a circle, and to imagine angels surrounding them.
She was ecstatic. She and I both were bewildered. How did that happen? Was that just a coincidence? Did I make it up somehow?
No. God gave me a vision. Like Cornelius in Caesarea (Acts 10:1), Peter on the way to Joppa (Acts 10:9-13), and Paul in Troas (Acts 16:9). For His own glory, and for the heart of His child – my friend.
“After this I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions.” Joel 2:28
The Lord gave me Himself in the Holy Spirit. And the Spirit gave me the gift of visions. I don’t have any superpowers. It is not on my own that I am able to see these things. I am a stubborn yet beloved child, who has been granted a gift from her Father, her God.
I am not to take credit for this gift, nor am I to use it for myself. It is solely the power of God working through me, and for His purposes and His glory.
We have to be careful with the gifts that the Lord has blessed us with, because some are not from Him. Some are counterfeit – they look like the real thing, but they are far from it. We are not to believe every person who claims to be performing a spiritual gift in the name of Jesus. But we are also to be open to spiritual gifts. Just because you haven’t experienced it, doesn’t mean the Lord can’t do it, and that He doesn’t.
We are to make use of God’s Holy Spirit in us to discern between the authentic and the unauthentic. He is able.
Who am I to complain about not being able to feel the nearness of Yahweh? Who am I to ask for more than what He’s already given me despite my inherently undeserving self? But even still, look at what He’s so graciously given me: the gift of visions.
