Lately, I have been spending more and more time thinking about vision.
“Where there is no vision, the people perish….” Proverbs 29:18
When I worked in management in retail, vision was a very big topic amongst my contemporaries and my bosses. “Where will you be in five years? ten years?” I hates that kind of talk because really, how am I suppose to know what life will be like then?
In time, I started to click more with the concept of vision….if I had an overall goal of where I might be in five years, it would make my everyday decisions more focused and easier to make. Then, once I realized that vision was a Biblical concept, it even made more sense. I still don’t know where I’ll be in five years but I do have dreams and goals that I feel God has placed in my life.
Think about it…….where are you now and where do you wish you were. Once you have a vision of what your life should look like, you can start making steps to get there.
Let me give you some areas to consider……
What is your vision for your relationship with God? (Do you care to have a relationship with Him? Do you even believe in Him in the first place? Have you accepted Christ as Leader and Forgiver? Does that make any real difference in your life?)
What is your vision for your relationships with others people? (Who do you have in your life? Why do you have the friends you do? Who challenges you to move forward? Who comforts you when things fall apart?)
What is your vision for your financial life? (Are you financially strapped? Do credit cards pay for life and then life is strapped down the road? Do you believe you’re stuck in your job because you can’t afford to move? If you’re in a relationship with Christ, are you tithing to your local church? Are you living paycheck to paycheck? Do you have financial freedom or does it have a noose around your neck?)
What is your vision for your physical life? (Are you overweight and it effects your self image or daily activity? Do you have an addiction like smoking, alcohol, drinking, snuff, cutting, huffing, or the like? Are you going to the doctor when you should or just blowing it off saying I’m OK?)
What is your vision for your job? (Again, are you stuck? Do you feel like you are doing what you dreamed of and designed to do? Or are you feeling stuck in a place you hate most of the hours of your day? Is the stress causing other problems in your health and family?)
If some of this clicks with you and you wish you could have a change in your life…..let me suggest a starting point. Get a pad of paper and a pen and write things down. I truly believe if you can get things on paper, it’s easier to organize your thoughts and not feel overwhelmed.
Then be ready for two things……making some small steps towards your vision and ask for help. Let me repeat the last one, ask for help! See a doctor, talk to someone on how to budget, go to a nutritionist, talk to your pastor, find a GOOD counselor, whatever, whatever, whatever it takes!
We have become too comfortable tolerating an OK life. We have become masters at tolerating bondage in our life. This is not what God desires for us. Once you have started by accepting Jesus as Leader and Forgiver in our life and He comes in resides within in the form of the Holy Spirit, that powerful, intimate relationship should affect every aspect of our lives in a powerful way.
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” II Corinthians 3:17
(Some of the thoughts here have been sparked by reading Proverbs in the Holy Bible and reading sections of the book “Chazown” by Craig Groeschel)
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