It has been a long time since I have taken the opportunity to blog. I have been traveling a great deal, both in and outside of the United States. Life is about priorities and in juggling all that has occurred in my world over the last couple of months, I have had opportunity to write. I just have not had opportunity to edit or to post. Here are some of the musings of the last month. They are a reflection of what I have been teaching our congregation at Bethesda Church, and in my travels.
I have been teaching a lot about vision and purpose. The common definition for vision within the framework of Christian teaching is that vision is a picture of your desired future. But, vision has to encompass more than picture of your future. One consideration of this is that the Bible teaches that “where the is no vision, or revelation, people perish – or a better interpretation is, ‘cast off restraint’.”
This is a clear lesson that simply stated teaches that if you do not have a clear picture of what you are to accomplish, you will not hold yourself to the proper boundaries that will effectively steer you toward your destination. If this is true, then “vision” is more about “revelation” than just a goal to be accomplished.
A better definition of vision is that it is a picture of the whole of your life. It is a revelation of the whole of who you are, as designed by God. In short,
vision is seeing yourself as God sees you.
It takes into consideration your past, your present and your future. Common faith teaching instructs us to put the past behind us – to put it “under our feet”. For many believers this simply means to ignore the past and forget it because it has been forgiven and hence, it has been forgotten. It is not a true picture of how God operates, nor how we should operate in the life He gave to us. To put your past behind you does not necessarily mean to ignore it – for to ignore it you also have to ignore the lessons learned through your history.
Instead, it is better to conquer your past. Learn the lessons it has offered while at the same time being more and more determined that you are better than your past. To conquer your past means that you force it into subjection and make it work for you.
The lessons learned become tools you use to fulfill
your future and your destiny.
When God created you, He knew who you were. Even before He formed you He understood your capacity and the destiny He had for you. He also made you in His image, which means you by nature have creative ability. I will share more on this in the next blog, but for now, simply consider that He knew what you would face in your past and in His grand design, He allowed that you could use the lessons of the past to prosper in your life. ALL thing work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose.
When God sees you, He sees your “omega” from your “alpha” He sees your end before He sees your beginning. He also gave you the ability to function in the same way. As you consider what you want to fulfill in your life, or what you feel led to fulfill in your life, you can better see the end from the beginning. You can see your past in different terms and find the true value in what you have lived. You begin to develop vision. It is a vital step in discovering and fulfilling your purpose.
In the next couple of blogs, I will continue this line of thought. For now, consider the things in your past that seem to hold you back. Consider the things you have tried to “bury” or run from. Rather than running from them or ignoring them, make them work for you. Your past is now YOUR servant. It is under your feet.
See your life as God sees it. Find the value He finds in you. When you do, you will be amazing at the revelation you find. You will discover vision.
