The Death of a Vision

I went to the Bill Gothard Seminar when I was in college. Much of what I learned in that seminar has resonated in my life. One principle lesson I learned was call a death of a vision. Basically it means that you have an idea and you are excited about it and cannot wait to see it come to pass and all too suddenly God says no to this idea or thing and the vision is dead. When this happens we will sometimes try to get the paddles out and revive the vision by our own means. Or sometimes we will wallow in the loss or we can accept that it was in fact a loss, mourn it and then look toward God for the birth of a new vision. Dealing with the death of a vision is just like dealing with death in general.
I once took a class on death and dying and I learned that most people who are grieving go through the same stages. There was a diagram for the stages of grieving called the Kübler-Ross model taken from Elisabeth Kübler-Ross book (1969), On Death and Dying. The five stages are thus: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and finally Acceptance. Bill Gothard explained that a death of a vision is very similar and that we will often go through the same stages as we mourn our losses- no matter how small they are.
I have several friends that are dealing with such losses right now. Losses that are deep and so painful that it hurts to watch them go through it. Ironically, I can see that they are going through the stages of grief and loss. One friend lost their career and cannot seem to cope. I want to yell at her and tell her to jump back on the horse again. But that will not work. She has to come to terms with her loss in her own time. I have another friend who is going through a terrible divorce. His life will never be the same nor will his vision for his life. These are just examples of the heartbreak that my friends are suffering. But the good news is- we serve a good God, one who is powerful and bigger than any of these losses. At the time we are dealing with the loss it seems that we are all alone in the hurt- but we are not. God in His infinate wisdom knows our situation, knows the purpose for it and knows when and how our world will look when it is over. He holds all the pices of this puzzle and will willingly put it back together. We just need to ask, to trust and to obey Him.