I had to repent this past week. In my zeal to move us all into greater manifestation of our God-given visions, I skipped an important step: explaining what a God-given vision actually looks like.
My bad. That’s on me.
Some of you are ready to move forward, and that’s good. I’m not going to leave you folks hanging*. But first, I must minister to those who need a bit more guidance.
So let’s do that now.
It’s probably a good idea to start with what a vision is not, because I believe that's where most of the confusion lives.
It's not ambition. Wanting to be successful, or respected, or comfortable is a perfectly reasonable desire, and God may well bless it, but it's not a vision. It's not a lightning bolt, either. Some of us are waiting for a burning bush that's not coming, because God already showed Elijah that He prefers a whisper. And it's not a strategic plan. A plan is what you build after you can see the thing. A vision is the seeing.
I like George Barna’s definition: a vision is a "clear mental picture of a preferable future.” And when that vision comes from God, it harmonizes who He is with who you are, and the gifts He’s already put in you. I'd add one thing to that: a real God-given vision is always bigger than you. If you could pull it off by yourself — even if it took a lot of time and resources — then it's probably just a goal.
Don’t get me wrong, goals are good. Personal aspirations are good as well. And you best believe I’ve got plenty of both. But while God will occasionally give us visions of our own futures, I’ve found that it’s the larger, kingdom vision that resonates most in my spirit. Probably, because it’s the one that causes me to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33), and trust that my personal desires will be added to me along the way.
Let me show you what I mean. I call the vision God has placed in my spirit Kingdom Everywhere.
Picture this. You go out on a Saturday to run errands and everyone you meet, everyone who serves you, is a believer.
The woman at the doctor's front desk is a believer, and you can tell, not because of a fish on her lanyard but because of how she treats the man ahead of you who's confused about his paperwork. The officer directing traffic around the construction zone? believer. The kid pumping your gas, the butcher packing up your corned beef, the guy who fixes your brakes? Believer, believer, believer. Ambassadors, every one of them, at their post. Not preaching. Representing.
A non-believer could have a string of small encounters with people who are doing their actual jobs as unto the Lord, and have an experience with Christ along the way.
“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
That's the picture, and it is way too big for me. I can't make one butcher slice meat for Jesus, let alone all of them, which is one way that I know it's a vision and not a to-do list. My piece of it is small and specific: help believers find their piece of it, and run with it. Everything I write here, and everything I build, helps to produce one pixel of that image.
And here's a fact that you should rejoice about: you are already in it. Woot woot!
Whether you have a clear understanding of your role or not. Your inner sight might be a bit blurry, but I assure you that God’s isn’t. Before you had a vision statement, or a plan, or a single idea, God had already prepared work with your name on it.
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Your spot in that kingdom panoramic is reserved. The question was never whether God has a place for you. The question is whether you can see it yet. And seeing, it turns out, is something we can get better at. That's what the next few weeks are for.
One more thing about big visions: the wall Nehemiah rebuilt, the one we’ve spent the last couple of weeks unfurling, was the last chapter of a story that started about ninety years earlier, when a pagan king named Cyrus signed a decree he didn't fully understand. Nehemiah never saw the beginning. Cyrus never saw the end. We'll come back to that. For now, just know this: nobody in that story had the whole assignment. They each had a piece, and they did their piece.
Your Next Move
No writing assignment this week. Just an honest answer. Tap the one that fits, and add a sentence if you want to.
Where are you with vision, really?
I'm going to shape the next few weeks around what comes back. If you'd rather just hit reply, that works too. I read every response.
*A note on timing. The Run With The Vision masterclass will go forth, but it will be delayed. Honestly, that shift is a little piece of my own calling getting clearer, and I want to be humble enough to call it out. I’ve been building this ministry for driven believers who already “get it,” but that was just me being lazy, and a bit arrogant as well.
As Paul said, “To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.” (1 Corinthians 9:22). That’s the right mindset.
Praise the Lord for loving correction.
