Proverbs 29:18 - Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.
I have quoted the New King James Version above. The King James says:
Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.
What does this mean? It doesn't mean our physical vision, or eyesight. Our physical vision can fail us. We can develop many eye diseases that steal our vision from us as we age or through infection or tragic accident. We are then left in darkness in which we cannot see the world around us.
The scriputre means that we must be able to see with our spirits what God wants us to do and have hope that He will make a way to the places He will guide us to. God will sometimes plant a seed in us of something that He wants to use us to fulfill. It can create the same expectancy and excitement a pregnancy might for a couple. With growth and maturity, that seed develops into something that we can bring into existence while relying on God to perfect the vision through us. We must be ready and all the ingredients must be perfect and be met in God's timeline, not our own.
To have true vision requires faith.
2 Corinthians 5:7 - For we walk by faith, not by sight.
We cannot walk in our relationship with our physical vision, because our relationship with Christ is not a physical relationship. It is a relationship based in the Spirit. It is the Spirit that gives us life. Without the Spirit, we have no life. With the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, we are free from death. (Romans 8:2)
Our faith is what allows the seed God plants within to us grow and mature as we grow and mature in Him.
Hebrews 11:1 - Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Faith provides us the "stuff" it takes to have hope, to be able to be confident in a God we cannot see. We will build that faith in an unseen God Who provides vision if we remain faithful to His word and seek His face. We hear the term "faithful" a lot...what does it actually mean, though?
Firmness, stability, fidelity, steadiness, certainty, enduring, steadfast, established, firm, sure.
Those are all parts and pieces of what our faith should be...what it should provide us as we move and grow in our walk with the Lord.
The Lord will sometimes plant in us a dream, a vision, a purpose to which He has called us to fulfill. Each and every one of us has a purpose in God's plan for the world. It is up to us to seek His will for our lives. Once we know...I mean really KNOW He has given us the seed of our vision, we then have hope for a future that we know will be blessed because we are choosing to fulfill our purpose as set forth by our Creator and King.
I have a vision that I know God has given to me. I can see it fully developed in my spirit. God has laid the foundation, the direction, and the structure of what He is asking me to do. It is very clear and I know God given. I have shared this vision with different people. Some close to me, some not. I have been met with positivity and excitement from only a bare handful. Others have nay-sayed the vision as impossible, too difficult to bring to fruition, to hard to finance, not for me, and my personal favorite: I am not qualified to pursue that vision. The beauty of a God given vision is no man, nothing on earth or in Heaven can take it away or corrupt it. Maybe you are like me and have a vision, a seed that God has planted within you but you don't feel qualified...people tell you that you are not qualified.
Romans 8:30 - Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called: whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
Better yet, look at Romans 8:28
28 - And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
No matter what anyone says, we all have a purpose and it is God who justifies, qualifies those He calls according to His purpose. Verse 28 is often misquoted. Often, it is only stated that "all things work together for good to those who love God." A lot of people forget part B: "who are THE CALLED according to His purpose." It doesn't just say who are called...but it says who are THE called! How can that not give hope to those that know they have been given a vision, a seed of their purpose from God?
So what is "purpose?" The word suggests a deliberate plan: a proposition, an advance plan, an intention or a design.
We all are part of a grander plan; a grander design. We all have a function and role within the Body of Christ and each function and role can, and probably will, differ from person to person. If we allow ourselves to become distracted, hopeless, deceived, oppressed...then we can lose sight...become visually impaired...to God's plan and purpose for our function and role within the Body of Christ. According to the Word of God, without vision...or revelation...the people perish.
Our vision can become impaired and we will be unable to see clearly if we allow the nay-sayers to get the best of us.
Our vision can become impaired if we begin to believe the lies from the father of lies.
Our vision can become impaired if we begin to believe that we are not among The Called according to His purpose.
Our vision can become impaired if we do not exercise our faith and know that we know that we know...we have hope for the future.
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