Imagine it’s a sunny Saturday afternoon in June. You have a few free hours so you decide to go rafting a few miles from your home. You call your best buddy and invite him to join you. Within the hour he knocks on your front door. You take him to the garage and he helps you pack what you need for your excursion: the raft, two life jackets, bottled water, sunscreen, a couple of towels and your sack lunches. After everything is loaded in your truck, your friend looks around and asks, “Where are the paddles?”
“Oh, we’re not taking any,” you respond. “We don’t need ‘em. We are just going to let the river take us wherever.”
Your friend raises an eyebrow, stares at you, and gives you an “Are-you-crazy?” look. Everyone knows that no one goes rafting without paddles. You need them for guidance. Without them, you’ll end up stuck in some trees along the river or sucked into a current, and you’ll definitely miss your destination.
Paddles Are Your Vision
It’s tragic that a lot of people float on the river of life without any “paddles.” In this life, your paddles are your vision for your God-given mission. This vision plays a huge role in getting you where you need to go to help accomplish God’s purposes in the world.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, a vision is “a thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination.” Once you have decided you need a vision, it can be a challenge to discern if the one you have imagined or developed is from God or not. Here is one way that you can know without a doubt if your vision is not from Him:
God’s Vision, Your Vision
Sometimes we get so excited about our vision we forget that God already has a vision for our lives. It’s been clearly communicated in Scripture in Luke 10:27, which reads, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
Your vision should always fit within His vision. If it doesn’t, then you know for sure it’s not God’s vision for you. If it leads you away from loving God or others, if it competes with your love for Him, then it’s not from Him.
When a vision begins with us and our ideas, then our goal will be to glorify ourselves, but when any vision is from God, it will glorify God. Your vision to support your mission must flow out of your relationship with God. When it does, you can know you are in God’s will. You cannot be the focus of your vision; Jesus must be.
When Luke 10:27 is part of our vision, we will glorify Christ—and this should be the primary purpose for any vision.
