The Pilot Light

The Pilot Light
2/1/09

A few nights ago I was at a women’s meeting, and we worshipped the Lord. As I closed my eyes I could see a small flame: a pilot light. I wondered why I was seeing this, and the Lord interrupted my thoughts. “I’m always on,” He said. I remembered the lyrics of the song about the Lord sending His presence. I watched in my vision the motions of putting a pot on the stove and then turning the knob for the gas to come on. “Purpose,” was spoken, . . . and I understood that a person puts a pot of food on the stove . . . that’s the purpose for turning the knob. “A person’s destiny is the purpose. This is the food in the pot. A person is a vessel, or a pot, and faith causes you to turn the knob, which brings the Holy Spirit to his or her life. But I’m always on.” Then I saw an oven burner, rounded at the ends and long, all ablaze. The oven has the capacity to cook a greater amount of food, for a longer time. “Group,” came to mind . . . we were at a gathering and there is a destiny for us as a group.

Since this vision the Lord has been speaking to me about the importance of each one of us knowing our destiny, and having faith for God to work His work in us. He is not holding back from giving His presence to His people, but He brings His presence for a purpose. He could be verifying a work we do on His behalf, confirming our words with signs and wonders. Or He could be validating that we are His, causing our enemies to know He has loved us. We seldom see God’s heart displayed in ways that allow us to know His purposes in our lives, for our lives are hidden in Christ in God. That is where faith comes in.

Faith, coupled with a sense of our personal destiny, brings the power of God into our lives. To the world, these invisible attributes seem foolish, as if we were fabricating a lie. And to ourselves, we often wonder if that might be true. It takes strong faith to believe that God has a definite, fore ordained work for us to do. We don’t see the hand of God weaving the circumstances of our lives together to form the fabric of our works. But if we believe in His Holy Spirit’s leading, we will one day walk in white with Him.

Believing, and faith: two of the most important attributes of a saint, yet two of the most difficult to maintain when it comes to knowing our identity in Christ and God’s destiny for our lives. But let us look at Jesus’ life for a moment to see how faith changed the destiny for many. I have often wondered at how Jesus could go down to hell and not continue to believe that God had forsaken Him. Then the Lord said, “I knew who I am.” Believing He was the Son of God, and having faith to fulfill His destiny, Jesus preached to those bound in hell and led them to freedom. He knew that God wasn’t sending Him to hell in condemnation, but in victory.

Though our circumstances may seem to indicate that God is not with us, His pilot light is always on. There are other men of faith spoken of in the Bible whose lives seemed to be going contrary to their perception of destiny also. But God was faithful, always, and brought them to the victory of their faith. We also have God’s plan for our lives, written in invisible lines somewhere in heaven from where the hosts watch over us and minister to our souls. When we believe, His power will consecrate the sacrifice of our lives with His holy fire, and we will serve others, as is our destiny.