“Where there is no vision, the people perish…” Proverbs 29:18
Having a God-given vision for your life is essential. Vision is a powerful asset that we must learn to harness and deploy. God has a specific vision for your life. It is a vision that God designed in eternity that gave birth to your entry into the physical realm. It is a powerful vision, one God is committed to fulfilling through you.
A vision board is a physical collection of items such as pictures, magazine clippings, words, and quotes that visually affirm your goals and dreams. Vision is defined as “the faculty or state of being able to see, the ability to think or plan the future imaginatively or wisely, and the act or power of seeing”.
A vision is a supernatural apparition that conveys a revelation. Visions are known to emerge from spiritual traditions and could provide a lens into human nature and reality. Prophecy is often associated with visions. The vision establishes divine priorities and breaks the spirit of lack. The vision is prophetic and boldly declares the will of God. The vision relies on God.
The pulpit commentary provides impressive illumination on Proverbs 29:18. He says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish; instead, rejecting restraint, becoming ungovernable and uncontrollable. ‘Vision’ (chazon), prophecy in its broadest sense, refers to the revelation of God’s will made by agents, who directed the course of events, and was intended to be coordinated with supreme secular authority.
The Pulpit Commentary goes on to say, “The prophets were teachers of the people in divine things, standing witnesses of the truth and power of religion, teaching a higher morality than mere human morality. The fatal effect of the absence of such a revelation of the will of God would be confusion, disorder, and rebellion; the people, uncontrolled, fall into serious excesses, which only great principles can contain.
There are two things I want to leave you with regarding the power of vision and a great way to answer the question, “What’s on your vision board?” These two points are revelation and restraint.
First, let’s explore the revelation. The revelation (vision) in mind here is not the spontaneous word of a supposed prophet. It is the great revelation of God, the revealed word of God through the Hebrew prophets of God and later the apostles and prophets who gave us the New Testament. No vision equals no instruction in the truths of God, which was by the prophets, through visions.
Finally, it should be easier to see why no vision leads to no restraint, our second point of exploration. When the word of God is unavailable or rejected, the people (us) give up the restraint. We no longer have a higher standard than our own current feelings or opinions. Essentially, the people (we) are deprived of moral constraints. And when we are deprived of moral restraints or have no vision for our lives beyond mere existence or depravity, we tend to move around aimlessly and, eventually, go wild.
So what’s on your vision board? What revelations have you received from God about your life and how to fully live your God-given potential? What dreams (visions) are you postponing, waiting for the right moment to happen or for all the proverbial stars to align? God is speaking right now. The question is are you listening? And if so, what’s on your vision board?
Dr. Preston T. Adams III is senior pastor at Amazing Grace Christian Church in Indianapolis. Contact Pastor Adams via email at drpta3@agccindy.org or via Twitter @DrPrestonTAdams. For more information, visit agccindy.org.
