Paul had a ‘heavenly vision’. But there are people who ‘speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord’ (Jeremiah 23:16 NKJV). So we need to be sure that we’re operating according to God’s plan, not our own, or somebody else’s. The story of the Tower of Babel teaches us two things: 1) When people make up their mind to do something, they often succeed. 2) Succeeding doesn’t mean that you’re in the will of God. The word babel (confusion) means others can think we’re right, even though we’re wrong. It’s okay to make plans and set goals, but our plans and goals should come out of a vision that God has given to us. When Paul said, ‘I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision,’ he meant that there’s only one acceptable response to God’s plan – and that’s obedience! Partial obedience, selective obedience, or delayed obedience are still types of disobedience. William Carey, who is thought of as the father of modern missions, gave up comfort and fortune to go to India and introduce the gospel. One of his more memorable quotes is: ‘Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God!’ But we can only say that with confidence when we know what God has called us to do. What He ordains, He sustains! When we set our own goals, we’re missing out on a heart-deep confidence that God is doing the work, and eventually we’ll wear ourselves out thinking it’s all up to us. But when we know God has given us a vision for our lives, we can trust Him, even when we can’t see any way to make it happen.
