Finding Vision: The Journey

How does one go about finding their personal vision? Let's begin with a premise:

God created you for the purpose of intimacy with Him. He loves you as no other person can love you and wants to bless you and for you to experience this intimacy with Him. From this God is calling you to participate with Him into the creation of the Kingdom with Him. For this purpose, God gives you unique gifts.

(If you need references or help with the above statement, see Carl's book Catching the Wind.)

Now let's look at the steps for the journey of discovering God's vision for your life.

Get Face Time with the Boss

This is a challenge in today's world. I know people that travel so fast through life that the only time they have for God is when they crash. There is loneliness, a deep hurting. Sleep is difficult. So they run. If things aren't going right they run harder. Until they crash. I can name people that are caught in this trap.

Now that's a bummer. God is right there. He loves His people like no mother or father can. Why not stop and rest in His love?

Just about every major leader started their ministry by pulling apart and getting time with God to discover their personal vision. If you read your Bible carefully, you will see the leaders in the Bible got their face time with the Boss over and over again.

Look at Moses in Exodus 33 starting about verse 7. The Israelites had rebelled while Moses had just received the Ten Commandments from the Lord. Moses is so angry he took his tent and moved it outside the defiled area and met with God there as "friend of God" (verse 11). At this point Moses did not have a clear vision of what God was doing and was very depressed. By Numbers 14, the Israelites had failed to go into Canaan after losing their vision and God planned to destroy the entire nation. Moses had to intercede for them. This time, Moses had a clear vision of what God was doing and claimed authority in terms this vision, moving the very hand of God and saving the Israelites. The Israelites had to wait in the desert, however, until the entire generation had died - with exception of Joshua and Caleb - the only two with the vision.

John the Baptist began his journey with a life in the wilderness. So did Jesus. and the Apostle Paul.

Periodically, I go to the beach near me by myself, getting my own face time with the Boss and exploreing my own calling and vision.

Study Your Past

What has excited you in the past? If you keep a journal (and you should), what does this tell you about what God is doing in your life? Where has God created in your life in the past?

Exercise:

Take a large sheet of paper. One way to do this is to take two 8 1/2" X 11" sheets and paste them together for a large 11" X 17" sheet.
Place the sheet horizontally (17" wide) and take Post-it notes of a specific color A and record on them incidents in your life that were exciting, drew passion, and where you sensed God was working in your life. Place the Post-it notes randomly on the page, left to right, in chronological order. Going down the page you may have multiple notes at certain periods in your life. Add more notes as more incidents come to your mind.
Now take Post-it notes of color B and record on them incidents that were painful or negative. Place them on the sheet in the same way, going left to right chronologically. Some notes may fall on top of the earlier Post-its; that is, the incident had both positive and negative aspects.
Now reorder the notes into periods or phases of your life. You should see anywhere from 3-5 phrases for an adult life.
At the bottom of each phase, use Post-it notes of a color C to summarize insights or lessons you learned about what God is doing in your life.

Share your insights in a small group. What are you learning about God's vision for your life?

Pray

Pray for God to reveal His vision for you. Since God loves you, you can trust him to reveal His vision for you. It is important that you prepare yourself for this prayer. If there is any sin or unforgiveness in your life you cannot expect to hear God give you this vision. If you are holding back anything in your commitmentt to Him, don't expect Him to reveal the vision. Once you are ready, you can expect God to tell you your vision.

Write the Vision

Now try your hand at writing your personal vision. Look at the vision of Jesus. What is your vision and calling? Be specific. Keep it to no more than 2-3 sentences and avoid being two specific, particularly on this first pass.

Mentor the Vision

During our lives, there are people that come in and speak to us, encourage us, mentor us. Visions, unlike core values, can change with time. They become a part of our process, walking with us on our journey and processing our visions with us as we journey. Mentors may change with time, but they always seem to know our heart. They speak to our heart.

I remember at an Elder's retreat I discovered I hadn't brought any batteries for my hearing aid and it was sharing this with another Elder.

"That's ok." I said to him, "We're supposed to be listening to God, anyway."

He smiled, reached into his pocket, and gave me a battery from the package he had brought for his own hearing aid.

"Carl, sometimes God speaks through other people."

Over and over again, God has spoken to me through other people. Identify those in your life that have spoken to you in terms of your vision. Share your vision. Pray together. Listen to them.

Share the Vision

Share your vision in small groups. What do you hear from others? Listen to their visions. Pray together. Ask the Lord to reveal when parts of your vision are from Him and which are from your own humanness.

Does your vision glorify the Lord? (John 14:13-14)
Does it bring the Kingdom? (John 15:8)
Does it align with scripture?
Does the vision lead from a servant role? (Matt. 20:25-28)
Do you and the others in the group feel at peace with the vision?
Visions are always relational and involve others. How does the church related to your vision?
How does your vision fit with where god is already at work? (It could be a new wave of the Spirit - discuss.)

Explore the Vision

Begin to share and explore your vision. Find those who can share this vision with you and begin making it happen. If your church cannot support it, find another church. If you can't find a church to support it, call your own church into being. Don't travel alone. There will be warfare.

Your vision may change with time - sometimes in minor ways, sometimes in major ways. Continue the pray, seek God's will, and remember those test questions. Remember the Enemy will try to claim the vision. God will always give you the grace you need to stay with the vision that He gives you. Remember also to stay with the vision, no matter what it costs, as nothing else has any meaning.

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