Hi SUMites, Ann here.
Today I wanted to tell you about a vision God gave me that relates to the unequally yoked marriage. It was a vision I received a few years ago, I didn't understand it at the time, but nevertheless I wrote it down.
A week or so ago, I happened to come across this vision again -- a description of it had been sitting in my journal for years -- and all of a sudden I understood it!
So I'm going to share it with you now and I hope it encourages you:
What I saw in the vision was a double bed -- A marriage bed, like this one here.
- On one side of the bed there was a strong wind of suction that was coming from above, a suction power upwards.
- On the other side of the bed there were helium balloons, rising upwards with their lightness.
So far so good. But what on earth did it mean? Well, here is the interpretation which I received:
The vision of this bed represents what is going on in a SUM marriage.
The believer's situation is represented by the helium balloons; the non-believer's situation is represented by the suction wind.
The believer's situation:
The believer has filled themselves up with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus. There is a power in that, and a lightness. It naturally carries them up, up, up, into eternity, towards God, and towards all good things that the Kingdom of Heaven offers. It is a lightness within them compared to the world outside, and it makes them rise. There's nothing much they need to do, it's effortless -- it is a natural outworking of their faith.
Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27, NKJV)
The unbeliever's situation:
The unbeliever, meanwhile, also has an effortless power being exerted upon them, but it takes a different form. In their case, the power of God is on them, drawing them to him, with such power it is like a giant vacuum cleaner hose that they can barely resist: Swooosh, they're sucked up and towards him. They will have to make their choice to submit, but there is a power drawing them up, up, up ...
Scripture says, no one can come to the Father unless He draws them.
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. (John 6:44, NIV)
We need to know, then, from this vision that God is drawing them. And it is a powerful thing.
Both of these upward movements, for us and our spouses, constitute the upward call of God in Christ Jesus that is our prize:
I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:14)
What vision says to me is that there is as much power on our spouses, as there is in our lives. It just looks different for us than it does for our spouse. We have His power in us, but our spouses have His power being exerted on them. The destination is the same: Eternity, represented by the upward movement. And the degree of power is the same: It is the power of the resurrection.
Ultimately, dear SUMites, this is what this vision is doing for us:
.. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places ... (Ephesians 1:17-20, NKJV).
My friends, let's pray that we can understand and believe in his power in the lives of our unbelieving spouses.
Love
Ann