"WHERE THERE IS NO VISION THE PEOPLE PERISH!"

What do you see?

The Mat 6:33 Imperative is an exploration in which the prophetic question, “What do you see” is continually asked.  Nothing much happens in the life of a person who sees nothing.  A person with no vision is like the archer who shoots an arrow with no target—his target is wherever the arrow lands.  A vision is an obsession you see in your mind, and feel in your spirit, until it hits the ground.

When we revise old mental models, we must replace them with empowering new images of the future.  What do you see happening in the future, visualise it, dream it, sketch it, pray about it, develop an attitude, just find a way of keeping it alive!  The emotions that ensue from the tensions and contradictions of that process provide the crucial momentum towards your passion.

Biblical scripture is abundantly rich with powerful imagery that can help us in the process of rebuilding new mental models.  The prophets and psalmists portrayed God in various positive and empowering images; it invoked in them a sense of understanding the attributes of God on a level they could relate with. 

Any vision built on flawed and negative mental models will not survive the test of time.  There are many tensions along the way, and every one of them is intended to derail the vision.  Nehemiah had a vision to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and that vision had tensions from its very inception, but the people around him had an ATTITUDE to work.

Think pictures!

God has given us an amazing mind to work with, to be sure, ^{1Co 2:16} “We have the mind of Christ.”  If we hold out the picture of a suffering Christ before us, then we will also uphold his unconquerable spirit, and victory over adversity and death.  Jesus did not give up on his mission for life; he saw it through till the end.

Peter Senge says, “An effective way to focus the subconscious is through imagery and visualization.”  The mind thinks in pictures!  The Bible is full of vivid images that create a clear picture of our relationship to God.  The prophets conveyed and received their messages in imagery, and Christ taught in parables.

Visualization is common practice in the various disciplines of psychology; meditation is its closest counterpart in the various religions that practice it.  Meditation as a form of visualization was an integral part of David’s prayer life, and he wrote, ^{Ps 119:148} “My eyes stay open through the watches of the night that I may meditate on your promises.”

Meditation is turning an image of a desired state over in your mind repeatedly, until it sinks into your spirit.  You don’t only churn an image of a desired state in the mind, but you practically become it.  The practice of meditation does not yield results overnight, but if one stays with the process as a matter of habit, the outcome is nothing short of awe-inspiring and phenomenal.

In biblical scripture, God is the object of our meditation; otherwise the whole thing is mental rehearsal in a vacuum.  Meditation without an object of faith is not sustainable.  A sustainable and meaningful vision is born within purpose.  Purpose defines our reason for being, and vision is what we want to achieve within the perimeters of that purpose.  If we do not define purpose, we run the risk of hopping all over the place achieving what we may not even be passionate about.

The Mat 6:33 Imperative is the vibrant atmosphere and environment in which our capacity to achieve vision is stretched; in it, we are invited to begin to dream with God God’s inexhaustible dream for our future.  The prophet’s words bear this out, ^{Jer 29:11} “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

To be sure, seeking the kingdom of God is setting out on a life long journey of understanding, and trying to understand again what God’s plan is for our lives.  The Kingdom is given to us one acre at a time in an unfolding process, Israel was promised, ^{Dt 7:22} “The LORD your God will drive out those nations before you, little by little.  You will not be allowed to eliminate them all at once, or the wild animals will multiply around you.” 

The challenge is not in reaching the destination, but in staying with the process.  More often than not, that journey is crowded by what Christ called, ^{Mat 13:22 (NLT)}“…the worries of this life, and the lure of wealth.”   The Mat 6:33 Imperative is to pursue what we have not been given (spiritual), and the rest will be given to us as well (physical).  For many, that distinction is written with invisible ink.

Meaningful purpose must be located squarely in God’s overall purpose for the creation of the universe; otherwise, it runs the risk of being exhausted or misdirected.  When we are the focus of our own purpose, our environment limits our dreams, and yet in God we are released to explore the constant beckon of never-ending possibilities at the peripheries of an ever-shifting horison.

 

There is no maximum to what we can accomplish in God through Christ, because beyond every level of triumph there is a higher possibility.  Paul wrote, ^{Phil 4:13} “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”