Hi, I am Lauren Vallotton from Bethel Church in Redding, CA. Welcome to God Today! I wanted to talk a little bit today about process and about keeping vision in front of you while you are on a journey.
A little bit about me…I married my husband about 12 years ago. And on my wedding day, I also became a mom of his three children. So, we have had quite the journey of becoming a blended family. People ask me all the time, “What made you say ‘yes’ to this journey?” What I can tell you is that I fell in love with my husband. And together we created a vision for our family. We knew what we thought was possible with God in our family.
So often as believers we get into life processes. We have dreams of things we can achieve. We see the land in front of us, that we want to take. And the journey ends up being a struggle. We come up upon obstacles and we find it is harder than we anticipated. I want to encourage you. It’s worth the fight. It is worth it. The things we envision, the territory that you envisioned stepping into, the breakthrough that you want to believe is possible…it is possible with Him.
I want to tell you a little story. Not that long ago, our adult son and I were having dinner at the house. He had come over for dinner. And we were chatting about the good old days. Those days where we were doing soccer practice runs and spending time together, eating ice cream as a family, just talking about some of the good old days. We also started talking about some of the painful times too. We were remembering back to when we were a new family and things were challenging. They were tough. Some days were hard. He said to me, “Mom, [in our most current conversation at the dinner table that day], Mom, what made you say yes to this? Why did you say yes to this? What did you have in mind?” He said specifically, “What did you have in mind when you said ‘yes’ to this crazy journey?”
And I looked around the room, I looked around my kitchen, I looked across the living room, I saw our family pictures on the wall. It makes me emotional. I saw family pictures on the wall and I looked back at him and I said, “I was envisioning this. I had this in mind.” And I can honestly say that in those hard moments, I envisioned sitting around a table with my adult kids all around me, walking with God, serving the Lord, thriving in life. And on the hard days, I said to myself, “It is going to be worth it. One day we are going to get to the point where we get to sit around and talk about the pain of our past. We get to talk about the process. And we get to revel in the fact that God is such a good Father. That He would bring us all the way through that journey into freedom, into thriving, into a tight-knit family unit.
I had that in mind. I want to just remind you, today, that vision gives pain a purpose. When we walk through the processes of life, and we don’t have vision in front of us, it is really hard to endure the hard days. But, when we have a vision for where we are going, when we are partnered with the voice of God in our lives, when we believe what He says is true about us and our destiny, it is easier to put one foot in front of the other when the time comes.
I love the scripture that talks about “He is a light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet.” Somedays, He is the lamp because we can’t see but one step in front of us. Some days He is the light and we see far ahead and it gives us the endurance to run, and run faster. But on the days where He is just a lamp, I want to remind you He is faithful. He is faithful to lead you one step at a time. He is faithful to take you in the process, in the journey. And if you have vision in front of you, if you know what He is saying, then it is easier to endure the hard times.
I want to remind you that you can do it! You can do the hard things. You can do it. I want to pray for you. Holy Spirit, I ask that you would meet each person who is watching right now. That you would meet them right where they are at. You would be there for them as their comforter, as their protector, as their provider. God, that you would remind them that you have good plans for them. And if they are in a season where they are asking you, “Lord, give me vision for my life, what is it that I am meant to do? Where is it I am supposed to go? What am I saying yes to today that is leading me to tomorrow?” God, would you be there, and would you speak?
I ask their ears would be tuned to hear your voice, their eyes would be refined to see who you are, what you’re doing. You would restore them to their inner man, that they would be reminded of who they are in Christ. They can do the hard stuff when partnered with you. I ask Jesus, you would come along as a friend, as a companion. That you would take them by the hand, that in this very moment, God, you would come to them as a friend and lead them forward. You would be that lamp unto their feet.
And God, I pray if they are in the middle of a hard process if they are in one of those days where, “Gosh, what are we doing? And what is life? What have I gotten myself into? I pray they would have the grace to remember what you say. That they would have grace right now, in the name of Jesus, to recall the promises over their lives. That the dreams they have of stepping into breakthrough and thriving are within reach. Through the power of the Holy Spirit and with the help of Jesus Christ. I declare freedom, breakthrough, the love of God over you, in the name of Jesus. You are powerful to accomplish what He has set in motion and He is faithful to complete it. Again, I want to bless you in the name of Jesus and remind you that you can do it.