THE POWER OF VISION (2)

“Then the Lord said to me, “YOU HAVE SEEN WELL, for I am ready to PERFORM MY WORD” – Jeremiah 1:12

Divine Performance is hinged on THE POWER of VISION: “Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, WHAT DO YOU SEE?” And I said, “I SEE a branch of an almond tree.” Then the Lord said to me, “YOU HAVE SEEN WELL, for I am ready to PERFORM MY WORD” (Jer.1:11-12). God will not perform beyond our perception of His promises! Jeremiah’s ministry was solidly undergirded by the Power of Vision. First, God had revealed his predestined calling as a “prophet to the nations” (Jer.1:5). He then portrayed this in detailed picture-language: “SEE, I have this day SET YOU OVER the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant” (Jer.1:10). Whenever the Lord calls our attention to “SEE” or “BEHOLD,” He is saying: “Catch a Vision”!

In order to fulfil his prophetic mandate, God put His words in Jeremiah’s mouth (Jer.1:9b). But he needed a clear Divine Vision to be effective and to perform phenomenally. Though he felt inferior, inexperienced, and intimidated by the size of the task to which God summoned him, realizing that God knew him by name, chose, appointed, and commissioning him to serve, drove a great sense of purpose that silenced his excuses. The Lord then equipped him with purposeful pictures to enable him exercise Prophetic Dominion over nations and kingdoms. God has a way to overcome our weaknesses and insufficiencies. The person most aware of his inadequacy is usually the person most dependent on God's All-sufficiency. His strength is made perfect in our weakness. His glory is manifested through our flaws!

It’s notable that the Word that God gave Jeremiah to announce was not a cheerful message of deliverance, but a heavy message of judgment that could cause him to be misunderstood, persecuted, arrested, or imprisoned. More than once his life was threatened. The people did not want to hear the truth. That’s why God used the image of “a boiling pot,” to communicate His coming wrath (v.13). The pot represented the nation of Babylon that would invade and conquer Israel because of her idolatry and rebellion against the God's righteous will. But Jeremiah had the promise of God’s Prevailing Presence if he obeyed and delivered the message:

“For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar, and bronze walls against the whole land – against the kings of Judah, against its princes, against its priests, and against the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you...to deliver you” (vv. 18-19).

This powerful picture language depicts God’s solid, unshakeable defence and deliverance of His servant. May we like Jeremiah experience the POWER of VISION, to SEE WELL and witness the Full Performance of God’s Word, in Jesus’ name!