One of my favorite childhood books featured a boy who lost his sight as a result of a firework exploding in his face. Yeah, I know it sounds a bit morbid, but listen to the rest of the story. Although he struggled greatly and became hopeless, he eventually triumphed in his new normal with a seeing- eye dog. He never regained his eye sight, but he was granted new vision with a wonderful partner by his side.
Vision allows us to see beyond ourselves and our circumstances, physically and spiritually. Vision offers hope and provides purpose.
Vision often begins in our heart and wells up into a plan of action. At other times, it is a direct message from God playing out before our spiritual eyes or in a dream. I think it is safe to say that without vision we are doomed to struggle and experience hopelessness like the blind character in my book. So I ask: You got vision?
One of the greatest examples of vision (and vision lost) is found in the Old Testament books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. You may be familiar with the story recounting the Hebrew people’s escape from Egypt — headed to the Promised Land. They lost sight of God and fell into the gutter of complaining, disobedience, and lack of trust in the One trying to direct them to a better place. They lost their vision.
One instance, among many, was the time 12 spies were sent to explore the land God prepared for them. Moses, prompted by God, sent 12 spies into the Promised Land. All came back with reports of fabulous fruit, but disagreement about conquering the inhabitants split the group. Two remained true the vision and were ready to go in and take possession of the land. The other ten, however, were blind to God’s vision and succumbed to their own ideas of being “squishable” grasshoppers in a land of giants. This blindness limited the view of their great God.
Much like the boy who experienced many self-inflicted struggles after the fireworks stole his vision, the Hebrews struggled for 40 years in a wilderness journey that should have only taken 11 day.
So, child of God . . . you got vision?
Pray New Mexico started out as a prompt in my heart that evolved into something that was hard to ignore. There are many times I feel like a grasshopper and wonder what the heck I’m doing, but then I think of God. I’m doing just fine as long as I’m in His will. The success of anything I do is up to Him. And, maybe this endeavor is meant to teach me something. Whatever it is, I accept it whole heartedly and plug along doing my best to walk this vision out in obedience and trust.
When an individual suppresses an urge in his or her heart or disregards a dream sent by God, that is disobedience. Sure, sometimes we are the authors of our own dreams. It can be hard to tell the difference sometimes, but experience tells me that it is better to look into these prompts and trust that God will open and/or close the doors. Call it “praying on the way”, but do something when you think a vision is welling up inside you.
Vision is also important with groups, be they churches or ministries. God’s desires are paramount. During the wilderness wanderings the other nations trembled before the Hebrews. Why? When God’s people were smack dab in the middle of His will, amazing things happened! God walked side-by-side with His children just like the dog walked alongside his blind boy who gained new vision as result of the partnership.
Fast forward to today. There aren’t many people or nations trembling before us Christians and that speaks volumes. What is our vision? Where is our corporate action? Is our vision more like that of the spies who felt like grasshoppers? Are we as obedient as we should be? Do we trust God as we should or are we more inclined to rely on ourselves and our resources when things get tough? Where is the godly vision today? Lack of vision breeds hopelessness.
Like the blind character in my book rediscovered vision with the help of his four-legged partner, we too can experience incredible spiritual sight when we walk side-by-side with the best Partner ever. Got vision?
Prayer Needs:
- Pray for those who have never experienced true vision and turn to unkind (and often illegal) activities in our state. They have misguided vision. Pray they will discover God as hope for their hopelessness, and a purpose to take them to great heights.
- If you lack vision, pray for God to awaken something great within you.
- Pray for God to broaden New Mexico churches and ministries visions and reveal any activities that are not of Him.
Get vision!!!
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