Vision

My pastor spoke this Sunday about having a vision for your life.  As I listened to him teach I thought, "Thank You Lord for confirming what was in my heart". Pastor told us how important it was to have a vision and by the end of his sermon he asked us if we had one. If we did not, he encouraged us to seek the Lord through prayer and His Word, believing that He would reveal His plan to us.

What is a vision?

One definition for the word vision is: a prophecy.

So in essence pastor was asking; do we know the prophecy of God for our lives?

The Bible say's in Proverbs 29:18, "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law." Vision keeps you -on purpose. It keeps you in line with God's plan. Not your plan or the one someone else planned for you but God's plan.

We all have things we would like to do and places we want to go. I know for me, there are certain people or people groups in need, that I would like to help. It's all good and honorable but no matter how noble my aspirations, I must be sure that is it God's prophecy for me.

King David had a desire to build God a house to dwell in. This too was a good and honorable idea but it was not God's plan for David to build His house. As we see in 2 Samuel (please read this entire chapter). He had set this task aside for Solomon, King David's son to do. God spoke His vision/prophecy for David through the prophet Samuel and it was not just His plan for David and his son that was revealed but His plan for the entire Israelite nation. So having a good idea is just that "a good idea" but a "vision" from God is something far greater, it is God's prophecy spoken over our lives that keeps us on course.

There are specific things God has for each of us to do. God knows exactly what He has planned for us. In Jeremiah 29:11 the vision was given to the Israelites, "For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." What stood out to me from this verse of scripture is I KNOW, I HAVE, FOR YOU. No matter what things look like or what others tell you, seek the prophecy of the Lord for yourself. Don’t despise prophecy from His prophets but remember God will always confirm His word.

Again, ask the Lord to reveal His plans to you because He knows what He has for you and no good thing will He withhold from those who love Him. If you already know the vision my question then is, does it restrain you? Are the things you're doing running smoothly parallel to His plan or causing a zig zag effect, leaving you confused?

I challenge you to spend some time today pondering this question.

What is your God-given vision?

Daily Declaration- I AM CALLED
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  Romans 8:28-30 (NASB)

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Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”  Matthew 9:35-38

Just recently a couple staff members and I were invited to join Compassion International on their mission trip to Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I had no real personal desire to go on the trip, only a feeling that I should go. So I did. I had been on other mission trips, so I kind of had an idea of what I would see in terms of poverty.  But I was totally unprepared for the life-altering experience I would encounter during those four days.

When we arrived at the projects (programs) where the children's needs are met, I was surprised to see the joy and hope that seemed to shimmer in their eyes. I was so captivated by the love of God on them that it was hard to focus on the poverty situations they were in, although it was evident. The children don't live at the projects; it's sort of like going to a community center before or after school. The only difference is they get fed a meal and for many of them, this could be the only meal they receive the entire day.

On the third day after our visit to the third project, I noticed that something was happening in me. I kept crying and there was a stirring in my spirit that couldn't be shaken. I hadn’t experienced this on other mission trips. I have always had a tender heart toward the poor, but this was something much different. I began to think of the numerous times I have felt compassion for a person trapped in a bad situation or how sorrow filled my heart for someone because of the circumstances they were under.  But again, there was something different about this trip. What was this? It was HIS COMPASSION that I was experiencing. It was His love for His people to do something about their situation that was flooding my heart.

I realized that it was not enough to merely shed tears and tell people that Jesus knows what they are going through. This may be the immediate response that expresses my emotions at the time and nothing is wrong with that, but God made it clear that He is requiring more from me!  Jesus said in Matthew 9:37, 38 “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”  What does this mean in context to my story? You see in the projects the children were full of life because they have Jesus in their heart, but there are millions more that are not in the projects and they want to be. The problem is there is a shortage of laborers to go get them. Not a shortage of people with need or those who see the need, but a shortage of those who are moved to action because of the need.

Notice that Jesus told the disciples to pray that God send workers in the field to get His harvest. This is what I believe that I experienced in Honduras, a "command to go", a call to action, from the Lord. It is not that I haven't been working because I have, but there is much more to be done.

Where is your field? What is it that tugs at your heart that you can no longer ignore? Is God "sending" you out into that field? I want to encourage you to join me, and countess others who are gathering God's end-time harvest; to seek God’s heart as to where He is calling you to go. If you are already working, are you ready for your next assignment? There is a great harvest and they are waiting on you!

Daily Declaration-I AM A LABORER WITH GOD

Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are laborers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.  1 Corinthians 3:8-9 (KJV)