Where there is no vision...you perish

Where are we headed?

My dad always used to ask me, "What's your five-year plan?" Although we don't necessarily have to have every hour planned out, it is important to know what we're working towards. What is our vision? In the past two weeks, I have been bombarded with this "theme" through prayer, study, devotionals, etc.

We go about our lives so haphazardly many times with an apathetic thinking and spirit, yet The Word instructs us that "where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint...(Prov. 29:18a)" Are we living an intentional life? Mick Bickle says that the key is not to be "busy" at every moment, but "intentional" at every moment. Where are we headed? When I ask you the following question from Rick Renner, what are your first thoughts? "If you keep doing exactly what you're doing right now, what will be your status in life two years from now?"  

As this has been on the mind, I have also been studying personal devotion and what all that entails. The Christian life is not really difficult to figure out or go about, it really comes down to our simple, daily devotion-our time with the Father, that daily taking up of our Cross, of saying no to the flesh and getting away with the Father. Micah Wood observes, "Everyone assumes that everyone prays, but hardly anyone really does. Since we assume everyone prays, we also assume that simple devotion cannot really be the answer to the radical call. We think, 'If daily prayer is the answer to the radical call, then everyone would be radical.' Yes, if everyone in church prayed daily, then everyone would be radical."  

As we continue or start in personal, daily, simple yet radical devotion, we get closer to one of the main goals of our lives--fellowship with our Heavenly Father. Where from there?

During our fellowship with the Father, over the years, He has planted His desires within us, and who knows the new ones He is ready to share with us when we get quiet and listen! However, in our daily lives, during the work, the noise and the business, those desires and that vision can take a back seat. When it comes to vision and where we are heading, one of my favorite verses comes to mind out of Habakkuk 2:2-3, "And Jehovah answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tablets, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for the appointed time, and it hasteth toward the end, and shall not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay." You see, it's not enough to just know or think on the vision or the desires occasionally, but we must write them on our hearts and everywhere else if necessary.

With that in mind, write down what God is sharing with you-the vision, the dreams, the goals, and let them guide your everyday life. Without a road map, we wander aimlessly. About two weeks ago, I sat down and did this. I made a simple list of 4 things that I believe God wants me to head towards at this point in my life. I will get vulnerable and share them: 1. To stay constantly in close fellowship with God and be a person of prayer. 2. To be a Godly family-member, friend, husband and father (future items that require current preparation). 3. To be an above-average Spanish speaker. 4. To be a minister that walks in faith and is led by the Spirit at every turn. As I finished the list, I gasped at the fact that I still have a ways to go. However, with the "vision written," life becomes easier and simpler. THIS is now what I work from. THIS is what stirs me each day. THESE are the goals we are working to with the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit. In other words, my everyday life should be guided by these, everything I do should be to help usher one of these into complete being. If I am trying to be an "above-average Spanish speaker" that means that everyday I am learning and applying new things. Now, does this mean that I can't have fun and take a few minutes to go enjoy a few laps in the dirty, Cusco municipal pool? No! I am not trying to be legalistic, but I AM trying to be intentional! 

Perhaps you are so driven that you don't need to do this, but take a shot at it anyway. Where is our desire (Rick Renner shares that "desire" comes from the Greek wordorego, which means "to stretch forward or to reach toward. It denotes the longing, cravings, urge, burning desire, or yearning ambition to achieve something or to become something. In other words, this word doesn't portray a person who just 'thinks' about becoming something; this is a person who is determined to become something!")? What are our God-given goals?

What has God shared with you? Write it down and go towards it with the help of the Holy Spirit! Submit every second of your day to Him with intentionality! Ask the Holy Spirit to stir up desire within you, and let nothing steal the vision! Remember, where there is no vision, the people perish... Let's fix our eyes on Him, His goals, His desires and we can't go wrong.

Oh, and remember, you can't do a new thing, you can't achieve higher results and you can't go higher and higher with Him into new areas by doing what everyone else does. Stand up and be different. 

'Til they all hear, Eric Lovin

‎"Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding, and in all they ways acknowledge Him, And He will direct thy paths."-Proverbs 3:5-6