Run Revelations Through the Word + “No Previews”
No Previews. (Entry 43)
Yesterday, I heard Elizabeth Elliot say, “God rarely gives us previews of coming attractions.” [89] So true. There are rarely “trailers” for the upcoming “feature presentations.”
It’s almost as if You give a skeletal dream or calling with no timeline, no details, no “preview.”
You gave Joseph dreams of his family bowing down to him, but no preview of the 13-year road to the fulfillment of that dream. He had no insight into the years of prison and pain between the dream and the destiny.
You called Moses to lead your people out of Egypt, because, you said, “I know their sorrows…” (Exodus 3:7). You called him to bring them out of Egypt to a place of promise, yet You did not reveal to him the multiple visits to a Pharaoh who hated him, the plagues You would work, the insolence and disobedience of those he was called to lead, or the 40 years it would take to reach the promise. You did not lay out a detailed map or chart to deliverance, but simply a calling to lead and promised that You would go with him. (Exodus 3:12)
You told Joshua that he would be the one to divide the promised land to Your people. You didn’t “preview” the battles he’d face on that conquest. You only said, “be thou strong and of good courage…” (Joshua 1:17) No strategies were given for defeating Jericho or Ai or crossing Jordan. You gave a promise that You’d be with him as You were with Moses (Joshua 1:5), and said, “I will not fail thee; nor forsake thee.” No previews. Just a calling and strategies that were “handed out” as they were needed.
You gave Gideon no “preview” of the “plan” when You called him to deliver Israel from the Midianites. You simply called him by what he WOULD be: “…thou mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12) and told him that he would deliver Your people. (Judges 6:14) You didn’t peel back layers and reveal all the steps to that victory. He had no idea that You’d reduce his armed forces from 32,000 to 300 or that You would win the battle and their only weapons would be pitchers and lamps and trumpets. You only called him to lead and ensured You would win the victory.
You sent Samuel to anoint David king over Israel. You had him systematically go through each brother until David was finally summoned from shepherding. The oil was poured on his head – a “skeletal anointing.” The calling to kingship was given, and yet with it came no “preview” of the 7 years between that moment and his ascension of the throne. You did not reveal the close encounters with death at the hands of the present maniacal king or the days of loneliness or terror of what would amount to a manhunt for his life. No sneak-peek of the hours and days and years running from a jealous monarch. You called. You anointed. The oil was poured, but no plan was given.
Story after story that display this pattern grace the pages of Your Word.
You told Your disciples to go. To teach. That they would be witnesses. You even told them they’d face persecution, but no “preview” was given of the glories of the coming revival and persecution it would take for Your Word, Your gospel to finally be spread to the “uttermost parts of the world.” Scenes of prison and beatings and being scattered, did not play out in advance. As Hebrews 11 says, “…others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment, they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented. Of whom the world was not worthy…” (Hebrews 11:36-38) You didn’t play that “trailer” for them. There was no preview of the gore, but also, no preview of the glory. Just a bare structure of the mission, with the pieces and facts and details filled in one day at a time, whether gore or glory or both.
This is how You work. No previews. No trailers. No sneak-peeks. Just a sense of purpose, maybe even a calling to something specific, but within that a greater calling to walk in trust. The calling is completed, the dream becomes a destiny, the promise is provided for as we walk daily with You. Learning to trust every step of the way. On the journey, there are harrowing experiences and hallowed moments, many too deep or too profound to express. On that journey, Your trustworthiness is revealed, my character is refined, pieces of the story and players in the story are pulled “into place,” and provision is made for the calling and anointing to become reality. No preview, just pieces that become the feature presentation. No timeline. No map. No book of strategies. Just a call, a dream, a promise, and in it a chance to trust. A chance to know Your heart.
As Amy Carmichael said: “…the pilgrim of love does not need a map or a chart. I know my road. It leads me to his heart.” [90]
Please let me walk with You.
Thank you for joining me for this journey!
Go grab your Bible and your journal!
I look forward to the power of this habit in your life.