Jan 29, 2019
By Rob Appel
Rarely will you start a trip without deciding first on a destination. However, most of us live life withoutever deciding on a destination. In 2010, my good friend Althea Rood was reading a book titled “Visioneering: God’s Blueprint for Developing and Maintaining Vision” by Andy Stanley. She was so inspired by the book that after she finished it she sent me a copy. I was so encouraged by it that I have been recommending it to everyone. I even gave away my copy for someone else to read!
With our transition this year as Carl Greene comes on board as our new Executive Director, I am reminded of the patience of Nehemiah and the many plans he made during his year-long journey to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
This book is not just about leadership, but also finding whom God made you to be, and what He made you to do, and how to get from “here” to “there.” In the book, Andy Stanley uses the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem to illustrate how a God-given vision is born and then executed to completion. He writes, “Everyone ends up somewhere in life. A few people end up somewhere on purpose.” One of the steps to getting somewhere on purpose is finding where “there” is through vision.
A vision begins as a concern but does not necessarily require immediate action. You are to pray for opportunities and plan as if you expect God to answer your prayers. God is using your circumstances to position and prepare you to accomplish His vision for your life.
Stanley explains that a dream is not a vision. Vision is a clear mental picture of what could be, fueled by the conviction that it should be. Without a clear picture or destination in mind, you are susceptible to be drawn to the whims of today—unable to move directly toward what could and should be in your life.
Nehemiah’s vision didn’t begin as a vision. It began as a concern, a burden. A burden for his nation and its people… So what did he do? Nothing! He did absolutely nothing. He didn’t steal away across the desert in the night. He didn’t fabricate a reason to leave Persia. He didn’t even share his burden with other concerned Jews. But neither did he allow his daily responsibilities to distract him from the burden that had gripped his heart…He chose to wait…What could be and should be, can’t be…until God is ready for it to be.
What can you do to keep your vision alive? Nehemiah did two things. He prayed and he planned. Prayer keeps us looking. Prayer keeps the burden fresh. It keeps our eyes and hearts in an expectant mode. When we don’t pray we will only see what we are looking for. If we pray we won’t miss what we don’t expect to see.
Think about it this way—if God could sway King Artaxerxes to finance the rebuilding of the wall around Jerusalem, He could certainly change the hearts of those who stand between you and the vision God has given you. Humanly speaking, there was no way in the world King Artaxerxes was going to support Nehemiah’s vision. But prayer takes us well beyond human possibilities. Normally our vision precedes everything necessary to bring it into the sphere of reality.
New visions die easily…and understandably so. There is little to go on. Praying and planning will help you keep your vision alive. When your vision dies, part of you dies as well. Pray for the people who could help you launch your vision. And while you wait, plan! Develop a strategy. Find the one or two things you can do and get busy.
Stanley says, “I think it is safe to assume that most Christians are not attempting anything that requires God’s intervention. If you want to know how you score on this issue, listen to your prayers and prayer requests. What do you pray for? What are the things you find yourself praying for night after night? Those are your passions. Those are the things that matter most to you. Other than heaven, and possibly your health, what are you consciously depending on God to do?”
What could we do that would guarantee we never see our vision materialize? The answer: fail to plan. As the saying goes,
“If you fail to plan…
you plan to fail.”