“Developing Vision for Life”
Proverbs 23:7
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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, forms a 3D color picture, and puts it into motion.
Our imagination is a very powerful thing. In fact, our entire mental process revolves around it, as we think in pictures. Consider this: when 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. How we see ourselves usually determines what we become.
In Proverbs 23:7, I am paraphrasing, “As a person thinks within their heart, 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. Many 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 not underestimate the power of an inspired vision.
Here are some people with an inspired vision we might consider.
William Wilberforce, featured in the movie “Amazing Grace,” had a vision of men and women not being sold as chattel, and he brought that vision to the British Parliament in 1789. Despite repeated defeats, the bill to abolish slavery continued to be debated. Wilberforce never gave up on his 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. shared his dream of a world without prejudice, hatred, or racism. It was a dream where people would no longer be judged by the color of their skin, but rather by the content of their character. That dream still drives our nation to eliminate all such barriers.
And then there’s the Wright brothers’ 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 don’t forget Walt Disney, who had a vision of a mouse that would build an empire. Disney World Theme Parks had more than 48 million visitors in 2024. 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 how we look at the world today.
Unfortunately, life has a way of depleting a person’s zest for accomplishment and vision. Responsibilities and financial pressures combine to overload people physically, emotionally, and spiritually, leaving life more of a grind than 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 people’s hearts ablaze, moving them to action.
What are the steps in developing a vision for our lives?
Define God’s Vision
Proverbs tell 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 rendering of the Hebrew. The word “vision,” as used by most translators, is better translated as “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.” It means being undisciplined and out of control. This is why I like this version, which says that people without a prophetic revelation from God cast off all restraint. They do whatever they want.
People need a divinely inspired vision, and if such a vision is lacking, they will either make up their own or wander aimlessly, losing 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 as the prophet Isaiah saw Him, lifted high upon His throne. 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 defines it as “a manifestation of the sense of something immaterial” or “the power of imagination.” Jonathan Swift, an Anglo-Irish writer and satirist of the 17thcentury, said, “Vision is the art of seeing things invisible.” (Jonathan Swift)
I don’t know about you, but that sounds 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)
As I look at this word, vision, I see something inspired by God, and while we can’t see it visually, it will make our blood pressure rise, our heart quicken, and it will change our lives and the lives of those around us.
And so, God’s vision for our lives is twofold: “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 says and live accordingly? If you’ve been around me, that’s always what I’ve 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 to narrow it down into something that can be remembered, understood, and acted upon.
The next step in developing a vision for our lives is to have eyes of faith.
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)
We do not see with our eyes, but with our brains. The eye is simply a lens that captures an image, which our brain interprets. The brain then adds to it history and associations. So, if all we have in our brains 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, it will 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 challenge everyone to have. It’s what I call having a Biblical World View.
What we mull over in our minds will color our lives and give us perspective. Now, the Apostle Paul tells us to fix our eyes on what is not seen rather than on 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, as we saw earlier in Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
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 focus on what presently is, but on the potential of what God desires to accomplish in us and through us.
This brings me to another question, namely, how do we see ourselves? For me, I have a vision of getting better-looking!
Do we see ourselves reaching more people for Christ, becoming more like Jesus, or becoming a better spouse, parent, friend, and worker?
Do we see ourselves living the 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.
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 to be restricted by the past, our old life, our old way of thinking before we came to the Lord, and the ways things have “always been done.”
In the time of Jesus, they didn’t put new wine into barrels and let it ferment, nor did they pour it into bottles afterward. Instead, they would 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 poured it into old, hardened wineskins, as the wine fermented, it would expand and burst the old wineskins, 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 stuck in a “this is how God works” mentality, 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 the Israelites would 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, wash it out, oil the outside, and make it pliable again, as it was when 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; it is always moving and expanding as we become more pliable to the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives.
And so, God is always eager to do a fresh work in our lives, but unless we’re willing to change and fill ourselves with God’s word, allowing the Holy Spirit to expand and enlarge our vision, we’ll miss the opportunities God has for us.
Now, if I could, I’d like to take a moment to look at the causes that harden our hearts to a new work of God.
What Hardens Our Hearts?
Sin – sin impairs and clouds our spiritual sight.
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 greater than whatever we’re facing.
A Lack of Trust – It’s a lack of trust in God’s gifts and talents, in our potential in Him, and in 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)
A Lack of Courage – There always seems to be a lack of courage to pursue God’s vision. It’s a fear of failing or of feeling we’re not up to the task. But courage isn’t the absence of fear; it’s moving forward despite our fear. We should remember what Paul said about how we can do above and beyond what we can ask or think by the power that works within us (Ephesians 3:20).
A Lack of Desire – When we lack the desire to get out of the rut we’re in, we hinder God’s vision for us.
A Lack of Discernment – This occurs 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: when we’ve allowed our past to determine our future. We’ve allowed these strongholds to persist in our lives, and they prohibit the work 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?” 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. But that isn’t enough. We have to take responsibility for it. To put it another way, “We have to own it.”
Thinking about this makes me wonder what the world would be like if Bob Pearce, the founder 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 Teresa had stayed in the convent and not heeded God’s call to live and work with the poor of Calcutta?
If you have been given a Holy Spirit-inspired vision that has your heart beating overtime, you must take responsibility and follow through. Otherwise, it will be a dream unfulfilled, and for you it will turn into a nightmare.
Receiving an inspired vision is not only spiritual but also practical. It requires not only quietness of heart but also the 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 this way: “The difference between dreamers and visionaries is that visionaries make the dreams come true.”
Therefore, let’s allow God’s vision and 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, living 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.
