Mensa Otabil - Do You Have a Vision?
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This week, we’ve been asking questions: Who are you? Where are you? And today, what do you see? It’s a question about vision. Proverbs chapter 29, verse 18 says, «Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.» Have you tried walking without sight, maybe blindfolded? Because although you may have all your elements together and are able to walk, there is uncertainty in your walk. You’re not too sure what is ahead of you or how to navigate your path. That’s what vision does for us in the natural. But the vision we are talking about here is not the natural vision; this is a vision that is a mental image, a mental picture of where you are going in life. It can also be a spiritual image, but having a clear sense of where you’re going in life-that is what a vision is.
The NIV renders the verse we just read, «Where there is no vision, the people perish,» as «Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint.» A restraint is like a pipeline-a pipeline through which water flows. When water is flowing from a source, for it to move from one end to the other, the water has to be conserved in a pipeline. What the pipeline does is restrain the water so that it can be focused and directed to a source. That’s what vision does: Vision takes what you have and focuses it, helping you to get from one place to another. That is why it says that when there is no vision, you are going to perish. You are not going to perish in the sense that you would die, but you will waste your resources, time, and effort. There’s so much activity-lots of water, so to speak-but no pipeline, nothing to direct you, nothing to guide you. So, it’s important for us to have a vision.
How do we get a vision? We get a vision mainly based on what we believe God has called us to do with our lives. If you believe God has called you to be a footballer, for example, then your vision is going to be to be a footballer. If you believe God has called you to be a preacher, your vision is going to be to become a preacher. If you believe God wants you to be a cameraman, then your vision is going to be to become a cameraman. Having that sense of, «This is where I’m going with my life; this is what I want to do with my life,» is what we call a vision.
What does it do? It gives you clarity, takes all kinds of things off your view, and provides clarity. Not only that, it gives you direction, so that you know where you are going. When you get up in the morning, you know what to do with your life. If you believe God wants you to be a doctor, your vision is to become a doctor. So everything you study will be to become a doctor; you will seek to go to medical school and become a doctor. Your vision helps you clarify where you are going. It helps you manage your resources; even if you don’t have much, when you have vision, everything will be focused properly, and you will get somewhere. A vision helps you to prioritize. It helps you determine what is important, what is not important, what to do first, what to do second, and what to do third.
So the questions we’ve asked earlier help us to have a vision. If you know who you are and where you are, you are now going to be helped to know what you see because it’s all related to what God wants to do with your life. May the Lord give you clarity of vision in all that you do, in Jesus' name. Let’s pray together. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, show me what you want to do with my life and help me to live my life with a sense of purpose. In Jesus' name, amen and amen.»