“Developing Vision for Life”
Proverbs 29:18
Watch on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSrcy4l3hxs
As human beings we all possess an incredible imagination. Here’s a fact I didn’t know. Our eyes take in four (4) million bytes of information every second, and the moment we see it, our imagination processes it and forms a 3D color picture and puts it into motion.
Our imagination is a very powerful thing. In fact, our whole mental process revolves around it, as we think in pictures. Consider if I say, “It was a big black dog.” Our brains don’t see the words, rather our imagination shows an image instead. We are all visually oriented.
As a result, we all have a picture of ourselves, our family, and our future. And how we see ourselves is usually what we become.
In Proverbs 23:7 says, and I am paraphrasing, “As a person thinks within their hearts, that is what they become.” (Proverbs 23:7 Paraphrase)
Basically, we become what we think, that is why it is important that we have a right vision of ourselves, of God, and of our relationship with Him. A lot of people live their lives beneath God’s vision, which is why we need to have God’s vision for our lives.
Therefore, it’s important that we do not underestimate the power of an inspired vision, a divinely inspired vision.
Here are some people who had an inspired vision that you might consider.
· William Wilberforce, who is featured in the movie, “Amazing Grace,” had a vision where men and women wouldn’t be sold like chattel, and he brought that vision to the British Parliament in 1789. But even though this bill to abolish slavery continued to be defeated, Wilberforce still believed in the vision, and four (4) days before his death, Parliament passed the bill abolishing slavery throughout its empire.
· Centuries later, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. told of his dream of a world without prejudice, hatred, or racism. It was a dream where people would no longer be judged on the color of their skin, but rather on the content of their character. It is this dream that still drives our nation to eliminate all such barriers.
· And then there’s the Wright brother’s vision of building a flying machine, or Henry Ford’s dream of building an affordable car for the average working American family. And Bill Gates saw a computer that would be user-friendly.
· And’s not forget Walt Disney who had a vision of a mouse that would build an empire. Disney World Theme Park averages 58 million people a year. But Disney died before its Grand Opening. At the opening, someone said to Mrs. Disney, “Isn’t it a shame that your husband couldn’t live to see this?” And she replied, “He did see it, that’s why it’s here.”
All of these and so many others had an inspired vision whose power changed the way we look at the world today.
Unfortunately, life has a way of depleting a person’s zest for accomplishments and for vision. Responsibilities and financial pressures combine to overload people; physically, emotionally, and spiritually to a point where life is more of a grind than it is an adventure.
But a Holy Spirit inspired vision creates its own energy and energizes people’s hearts, minds, and bodies in a positive direction. Some have likened vision to a match that sets ablaze people’s hearts that moves them to action. (This was talked about earlier in our message entitled, “Getting Set Ablaze.”)
So, what are the steps in developing a vision for our lives?
1. Define God’s Vision
Proverbs tells us that where there is no vision, the people perish.
“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint” (Proverbs 29:18a NKJV)
I really like the way the New King James translates this verse, because it is a more accurate translation of the Hebrew language. The word “vision” used by most translators, is better translated as a “revelation,” or “an oracle from God.” It means a prophetic insight, a God given revelation. So, this first part might better be translated as, “Where there is no God given revelation.”
But we can’t stop there. The second part of this verse that most translations use is the word “perish.” What the word means is to be undisciplined, and out of control. This is why I like this version where it says that people without a prophetic revelation from God cast off all restraint. They do whatever they like.
People need a divinely inspired vision, and if such a vision is lacking, they will either make up their own, or wander without purpose, goals, and focus, and lose what life is all about. How else can we explain the moral demise of our country and of people’s lives? They have no vision, no godly revelation, they haven’t seen the Lord like the prophet Isaiah, who saw the Lord high and lifted up. They haven’t seen Jesus dying on the cross for their sins, and so we have a country that has gone wild.
But what is a vision? There are many definitions of vision. Webster calls it “a manifestation of the sense of something immaterial,” or “the power of imagination.” Jonathan Swift, an Anglo-Irish writer and satirist of the 17th century, said, “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” (Jonathan Swift)
I don’t know about you, but that sound an awful lot like what the Bible calls faith. In Hebrews 11:1 it says, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV)
And so, as I look at this word vision, what I see is something that has been inspired by God, and while we can’t see it visually, it will make our blood pressure rise, our heart quickens, and it will change our lives and the lives of those around us.
And so, God’s vision for our lives is two-fold: “God’s vision for our lives is a vision for what God wants us to accomplish and what God wants us to become.”
But why do we need to define a vision for our lives? Why don’t we just follow what the Bible has to say and live our lives accordingly. And if you’ve been around me, that is always what I have said and believed, and that’s because the world was changed by those who believed in God’s vision for the church.
But what a personal vision should do, and what a vision for the church should do is not to change that initial overall vision, but instead narrow it down into something that can be remembered, understood, and acted upon.
The next step in developing a vision for our lives is having eyes of faith.
2. See God’s Vision Through Eyes of Faith
“The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:22-23)
This is kind of what we looked at earlier, and that is we really see not with our eyes, but with our brain. The eye is simply a lens that captures an image that our brain defines. The brain then adds to it, history and associations. So, if all we have in our brain is what we have garnered from the world, and the world’s definition of life, then that is how we’ll see the world around us.
But if we allow our brain to soak up the Word of God, then it will then strongly color what our eyes take in, and we’ll see the world through different eyes, that is, the eyes of Jesus, the eyes of God which I challenged everyone to have in our message on having “A Fresh Encounter with God.” It is what is often referred to as having a Biblical World View.
So, it’s what we mull over in our minds that will color our lives and what gives us perspective. Now, the Apostle Paul tells us to fix our eyes on what is not seen rather than what is seen, because that is where our hope lies.
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
And so, our vision needs to be not with what we see with our physical eyes, but with our spiritual eyes. Jesus said to Thomas, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29 NIV)
The writer of Hebrews says that this is the very essence of faith, which is what we saw earlier saying, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1 NKJV)
So, what do we see by faith for our lives? What’s important to understand before we try to answer that question is that vision shouldn’t be focused upon what presently is, but upon the potential of what God desires to accomplish in us and through us.
This brings me to another question, and that is, how do we see ourselves? For myself I have a vision that I’m going to get better looking!!
· Do we see ourselves reaching more people for Christ, becoming more like Jesus, or as a better spouse, parent, friend, and worker?
· Do we see ourselves living that abundant life Jesus said we should have?
· Do we see ourselves developing a greater degree of holiness and integrity?
· Do we see ourselves doing great things for the Kingdom of God?
Finally, this leads me to the last step in developing vision.
3. Don’t Let the Past Restrict Our Future
“Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17 NKJV)
What Jesus was speaking about is not allowing the new things God desires to do be restricted by the past, or our old life, our old way of thinking prior to our coming to the Lord, and the ways things have “always been done.”
In the times of Jesus, they didn’t put new wine into barrels and let them ferment, nor did they pour them into bottles afterwards. Instead, what they would do is kill an animal and cure the skin. They would take the newly crushed grapes and pour them into these wineskins.
Now, because they were new, they would move and expand with the fermentation process. But if they took the new wine and pour it into old and hardened wineskins, as the wine fermented it would expand and burst the old wineskin spilling the wine.
That is what happens in our relationship with God. He desires to give us His vision, but if we are set in our ways, bound to the past and “this is how God works” mentality, and our old ways of thinking, then God’s vision will be limited if not wrecked.
The good thing is that God is in the renewal business. What’s interesting is that what the Israelites would do is take the old wineskin and make it new, because killing an animal every time new wine was made wasn’t economical. So, they would take the wineskin and wash it out, oil the outside, and make it pliable like when it was new.
In the same way we don’t have to stay old and dried out in our thinking and in our faith. Instead, we can be washed by the water of God’s word and ask God to pour on us the oil of the Holy Spirit so that we can be ready to receive God’s new vision. Because, no vision is stagnant, but it is always moving and expanding as we are made more pliable to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives.
And so, God is always desirous to do a fresh work in our lives, but unless we’re willing to change, unless we’re filling ourselves with God’s word and allowing the Holy Spirit to expand and enlarge our vision, then we’ll miss the opportunities that God has for us.
Now, if I could, I’d like to take a moment and look at the causes that hardens our heart to a new work of God.
What Hardens Our Hearts?
a. Sin – sin impairs and clouds our spiritual sight.
b. A Lack of Faith – It’s a lack of faith in God’s power. Jesus said that with men such things are impossible, but with God all things are possible. Nothing is too hard for God, and God is bigger than whatever we’re facing.
c. A Lack of Trust – It’s a lack of trust in God’s gifts and talents, and our potential in Him and what He can do in us and through us. Remember what Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)
d. A Lack of Courage – There always seems to be a lack of courage to attempt God’s vision. It’s a fear of failing or that we’re not up to the task. But courage isn’t an absence of fear, it is moving forward despite our fear. We should remember what Paul said in how we can do above and beyond what we can ask or think by the power that works within us (Ephesians 3:20)
e. A Lack of Desire – When we lack the desire to get out of the rut we’re in, we inhibit God’s visions for us.
f. A Lack of Discernment – This when we’ve allowed others to tell us what we can and cannot do, and it clouds our vision.
And if I can add one more, which is not in your notes but something you should write down, and that is we’ve allowed our past to determine our future. We’ve allowed these strongholds to continue in our lives and they prohibit the work that God desires to do.
Conclusion
Someone asked Helen Keller, who lost her sight and hearing as a baby and became a renowned author, lecturer and advocate for disability rights, “What would be worse than being born blind?” To which Keller responded, “Having sight without vision.”
Vision begins with seeing God’s picture of what our future should look like, and it should stir our hearts. Where do we find this picture? In God’s word, the Bible. But that isn’t enough. We have to take responsibility for it. To say it another way, “We have to own it.”
Thinking about this makes me wonder what the world would be like if Bob Pearce, the found of World Vision, had this vision of bringing relief and aid to the children of underdeveloped countries but said, “What can one man do?”
Or what if Mother Theresa had stayed in the convent and not listened to God’s vision to live and work with the poor of Calcutta?
If you have been given a Holy Spirit inspired vision, one that has your heart beating overtime, then you must take responsibility and follow through. Otherwise, it is going to be a dream unfulfilled that for you will turn into a nightmare.
Receiving an inspired vision is not only spiritual but practical as well. It involves not only quietness of heart, but energy to see it accomplished. In the end it comes down to who are the dreamers and who are the visionaries. I’ve heard it said like this: “The difference between dreamers and visionaries is that visionaries make the dreams come true.”
Therefore, let’s allow God’s vision, His revelation for our lives to develop and mature in our hearts, and then let’s start putting them into action. Otherwise, we’ll be as Proverbs explains, and that is we’ll live an undisciplined life, casting off all restraints and doing what is right in our own eyes, which as we have seen is a recipe for disaster.
