“Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” – Proverbs 29:18.
In one definition of Perish it says, suffer complete ruin or destruction.
When there is no vision, the people suffer complete ruin or destruction. Fortunately, that will not be you. Why? Because you have too much inside and ahead of you to not sit and make the vision plain. Yes, I get that it is God’s purpose that prevails, and that is why he has plans to prosper and not harm you, plans for a hope and a future for you (Jeremiah 29:11), but it is important for you to make the effort to seek him on what that vision entails.
Ok so before I go hard trying to convince you to get a vision for yourself, let me also share insights on where I have seen this be true in my life.
A lack of vision makes you settle with your issues. Three years ago, because of numerous reasons but most importantly the lack of trusting the vision God had for my life, I swayed with human direction. I blindly made life changing decisions that almost costed me my sanity and my life. After spiraling for a while, I pretty much just gave in to my sinful nature and allowed that to be my truth. I stopped putting my faith on the very things of life, hope and faith but on failure, rejection and lack. I believed that would be my portion for the rest of my life and I behaved that way as well. I sought out the acceptance from the very people who rejected me, I made a home for myself in my mistakes, and I spoke death over myself while I was in the pit.
Vision allows you to get a bigger picture than your present circumstance. Two years ago, I was faced with a decision that would change my life forever. I had two choices with both leading towards different paths. Though, I knew the one I wanted to make, my circumstances did not line up to support my decision. Since no one knew, I could have decided blindly and took my present circumstances as a reason to take one path. Instead, I sought God for a vision, and he showed me what either decision would mean. God allowed me to see further, he gave me wisdom and insight on how to go about things, and I live today knowing my daughter is a part of the vision for my life despite what it may or may have looked like.
Vision allows you to stand the course. A year ago, my mother passed away a week after my deposit on a new home was accepted. I loss the deposit on the home due to unforeseen circumstances then had to work on making funeral arrangements to bury my mother during a pandemic. I knew God had called me to homeownership based on the vision he showed me. I had taken the necessary steps to understand what that looked like by attending a first-time homebuyer’s class and completing a money management course. I thought I would be able to move in my mother so that she would never have to worry about renting again. Not only did I not get the home, but my mother would never experience ownership. Once I buried my mother, I stopped looking for a home, and figured it was not my time yet to own a home, but I did not stop believing in the vision that God had called me to. I continued to work on things in my finances, I continued to work on my personal growth, and I remained focused on what God had ahead for me.
Last September, on my mother’s birthday I closed on a home that was a better opportunity than the one from the previous year. No competition, no fighting but waiting for God’s promise to fall through in His perfect timing. Though my mother was not with me in person, she was with me in spirit on the closing.
Yes, I was frustrated. Yes, I had moments of discouragement. And yes, I started to question God. It was not easy to stand the course, but there was no going backwards for me at that point. The power of vision would not have me to settle like so many other times before.
Your circumstances may never be like mine, and you may have already planned out your life, or you just cannot seem to figure out how to find the thing you are meant to do, wherever you find yourself, I pray you get the vision for your life. That you do not see your current season as the last stop but a preparation for your next.
