Mensa Otabil - A Sense of Vision
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Proverbs chapter 29, verse 18: "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 work, and you're not too sure what is ahead of you or how to navigate your path, and how to get along.
That is what vision does for us in the natural. But the vision we are talking about here is not 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."
Restraint is like a pipeline, a pipeline through which water flows, and 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 is what vision does; vision takes what you have and focuses it, helping it to get from one place to the other. That is why it says that when there is no vision, you're going to perish. You're not going to perish in the sense that you would die, but you waste your resources, you waste your time, you waste effort because there's so much activity-a lot of water, so to speak-but no pipeline, nothing to direct you, nothing to guide you.
So it is 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 become a footballer. If you believe God wants 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.
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; it takes all kinds of distractions off your view and gives you clarity. Not only that, it gives you direction, it provides 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 then, everything you study is going to lead to making you a doctor. You' re going to pass, go to medical school, and become a doctor. Thus, your vision helps you clarify where you are going, helps you manage your resources, and 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 prioritize; it helps you determine what is important, what is not important, what to do first, what to do second, what to do third. The questions we've asked earlier help us to have a vision. If you know who you are, if you know 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.