We all Need a Vision
“Without a glowing vision, you will regard your desirable future as unattainable, and you will not focus your efforts on attaining it. As a result, you will be imprisoned by your circumstances…” — Nido R Qubein
The Bible says much about having a vision. Notice I said ‘A Vision’. Saying ‘A Vision’ is like saying you have a goal, an objective, or a desire. Once this vision reaches the point of having its own emotion, it can germinate. The emotion acts like water to a seed planted in soil. The emotion not only causes germination of our vision, it will help our vision to grow into that for which vision or seed was designed. Stated another way, it will help to bring about the fulfillment of your vision, desire, objective, or goal.
In Proverbs 29:18 it says: “Where there is no vision the people perish, but happy is he that keeps the vision in front of him.”
In Habakkuk 2:2-3 it says: “…write down the vision and make it plain so those that are running can read and understand it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but it will come though not right away. Slowly, steadily and surely it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, do not despair, just be patient. What you believe will come to pass.”
In Hosea 10:12 it says, “Sow with a view or vision of right standing, that this vision, like seed, may germinate…Break up the uncultivated and hardened ground of your heart, then plant your seed/vision and the Lord will rain His blessings on it.” (Amplified, Message and Living Bible)
If you want a healthy crop, you must plant your seed in fertile soil. You must ensure it is watered and cultivated, meaning along with clean water, you make sure it is free of weeds and any other potential thing that could keep it from providing a healthy harvest. Likewise, in order to get what you want, you have to plant your desire into a fertile heart. A fertile heart is one free of anxieties and worry as well as hatred and bitterness. It is a heart that is clearly and keenly focused, which is difficult to do if that heart is full of anxieties and bitterness. This makes the heart hard and as such not good soil.
So, this all sounds good and yeah, it’s in the Bible, but how does that apply to me? How am I to make this personal? The libraries are full of true stories of men and women that have overcome unbelievably harsh childhoods and circumstances. These are the people that have lived through wars, famines, slavery, natural disasters, and many unfortunate situations that could have destroyed them, BUT they chose not to allow their circumstances to imprison them. Instead of allowing the circumstances to dictate things would turn out, they decided to think outside the box, use that which was given them, their brain and common sense, and get out of whatever it was that was trying to keep them from being or having the best.
I recognize many people have had a much worse upbringing than mine. What is true however, is it is the only upbringing I knew and it is one I lived. My father was a harsh task master and also not one given to being even keel. His demeanor varied with the way his day went. If he had a great day his demeanor was enjoyable. If he had a bad day, then everyone around him had the same and he made sure of it. His way of dealing with stress was to dump it on those he loved. He was always kind to everyone else, but to his family he was hard and harsh. No one else saw or knew this side of him. His way of making you feel you needed to be more was to cut you down by saying you would never amount to much of anything. Fortunately for me, I fought against this and wanted more than anything to succeed to prove him wrong. This isn’t always the case as it usually backfires bringing about the result spoken.
As a result, I did my best working as hard as I could to make him eat his words. What I didn’t realize was, my focus wasn’t clear and keen. It wasn’t always that which was in front of me, more often than not it was the bitterness and anger I had against my father and against life itself believing I had been dealt a bad hand. My vision, though at times very clear, could also become very cloudy making it hard to see and thus hard to keep in the good soil to germinate and grow. Though I worked hard, though I planted much, the resulting harvest was not what it could and should have been. It wasn’t until I wound up forgiving him, that I was able to move ahead with laser focus to achieve the dreams and desires of my heart. This allowed my heart to become fertile. It allowed me to keep my focus laser sharp and thus be able to achieve some of my dreams and desires and I believe there is a lot more available as long as I maintain the good soil in my heart.
Best of LUCK as you
Labor Under Correct Knowledge…
Respectfully,
Rick Cox