“Pastor, I’m a minister of God yet the only thing good in my life is the children I have. People call me pastor, yet I’m in debt. Despite all the dreams and visions I see of myself, my life is really a mess. I’m really ashamed of myself. What do I do?”

I totally understand how you feel, but I think you may be having a wrong mindset about a number of things concerning the kingdom of God. Your major challenge is that despite all that God has shown you in visions and dreams, your life is still a struggle. You built your life and expectations around your dreams and visions, and you didn’t even notice when things went south.

What do you do when you see a job vacancy? A vacancy is often used to unveil a role or job that is available or obtainable inside an organization. Without a vacancy, you’d have to do the finding yourself. That system is also applicable in God’s kingdom. While it is possible to discover what is obtainable by searching the scriptures for yourself, God can also show you a vision or a dream of what is available or obtainable.

That’s right! Visions are God’s way of communicating what is obtainable or available in His kingdom. If there’s a vacancy for the post of a great pastor, He’d show you a vision or a dream of yourself preaching to a large congregation. If there’s a vacancy for a wealth distributor, He’d show you a dream or vision of yourself in a very wealthy and influential state.

What confuses most Christians is that when God shows them this type of dreams or visions, they’re usually not anywhere near what God showed them. Imagine God showing you a vision of a very influential pastor while you’re still struggling with sin. Imagine seeing dreams of yourself swimming in wealth while you’re still jobless and can’t even afford a comfortable meal.

The fact that you presently don’t look like what God showed you doesn’t mean it cannot happen. However, you have to apply for the vision you saw just as you’d apply for the job vacancy. But unlike a job vacancy where you submit your resume, for a vision, you have to “wait”. Let’s see how scriptures put it:

Habakkuk 2:
3 For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

Ofcourse, just as every job opportunity has an appointed time for resumption, every vision has an appointed time for its full manifestation. Though it may take some time, but don’t give up, wait for it, because it won’t take forever.

I know what you’re probably thinking right now, “You mean I should just sit down and wait?”. No! The word “wait” in scriptures means different things in different contexts. But in most of the context where it was used, wait means to prepare yourself. And clearly, in this case, you’re waiting upon the Lord. To wait upon the Lord means to prepare and sanctify yourself for God’s use through knowledge, fasting and prayer.

You don’t get a job just because you applied, you still have to be interviewed or tested to see if you’re capable. Likewise, your dreams and visions don’t come to pass on their own, you still have to prove yourself by engaging the kingdom principles that guarantee the release of those things you see in your dreams and visions.

When Jesus told his disciples to wait at the upper room for the promise of the Holy Spirit, they didn’t go there to sit down. There was no record that they ate or drank for the number of days that they waited in that room. Rather, they were in prayer in one accord. They prepared themselves according to prophecy and what Jesus taught them. They made arrangement to replace Judas with another disciple. They prepared themselves for the appointed time when the promise would come.

That’s right! Don’t sit idly hoping that the vision will come to pass someday. Many have sat for 10 years like that and the vision still hasn’t come to pass. The vision has to meet with preparation to come to pass. You have to seperate yourself to learn what it takes to become what God has shown you. If God showed you a vision of a wealthy man, go and learn what it takes to be wealthy in the kingdom and begin to do same. Don’t go and borrow money and start sharing just because God showed you a vision of a wealth distributor. You’d be in great debt, and you may never recover from it. As a minister, you have no business being in debt. If you cannot trust God for supplies now, how then will God entrust you with big things?

Don’t open a church just because you saw yourself preaching. Go and receive the details of the ministry from God first. Don’t start a ministry until God gives you your mandate, your audience and your platform. It’s true that every preacher should preach the bible, but what distinguishes us is the mandate that God gave to us.

When God called Bishop David Oyedepo into ministry, He studied close to a hundred biographies. Today, his ministry has become a force to reckon with.

Let me conclude with this; every vision has timing, just as every vacancy is time dependent. If you haven’t done anything about a vision that God showed you years ago, chances are that God has shown it to someone else. God is no respecter of persons. I heard a story of an old man who God showed a vision of pastoring a church while he was younger. He neglected the vision and pursued ambition. Years later he attended a church somewhere and couldn’t but shed tears. The church was a complete replica of what God showed him in his vision, even the name of the church was the same. May that not be your portion! If God has shown you anything at all, start preparing!

I hope this has brought enlightenment to someone.

Remain ever blessed, in Jesus precious name!

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