I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you.  Ephesians 1:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish.  Proverbs 29:18

Vision is the bridge between our present and our future. Without it we perish, figuratively at least…Perhaps emotionally and even physically, too. When we’re without vision we spend our lives avoiding instead of engaging…avoiding risk, avoiding bother, avoiding discomfort.

That makes sense: If we’re not going anywhere, why deal with obstacles and irritations others face in order to get somewhere?

But that doesn’t mean our lives won’t have trials anyway. But without a vision we won’t understand the context of what we’re going through very well, because we don’t have a purpose or destination. Life takes on a surreal randomness when we don’t have a target. Kind of like the silver ball in a pinball game…aimlessly bouncing off circumstances and just hoping to keep from going down the shoot.

So many of us go through life believing that every obstacle is a nuisance… something to be avoided. Of course those of us with a vision…people who are living out the purpose God has given us…would prefer no obstacles, too. But these difficulties and course corrections don’t dampen our spirits because we’re intent on getting where we’re going and that takes a level of drive that pushes through the obstacles. Obviously, pushing through the obstacles life throws in our way isn’t a priority if we’re going nowhere…if we have no vision.

Biblically speaking, vision is what we see, but it is also the WAY we see it. Vision is the interpreter that deciphers what’s happening in our lives, the way we view people and how we view Jesus. Wonderful people…annoying people, God’s obvious blessings…the trials we face.

If our vision is impaired, according to Jesus, our heart is impaired (Matt 6:22). So in today’s verse, Paul prayed that the eyes of our heart would be enlightened… that we would perceive with our eyes but with our hearts fixed on Jesus. Just like our minds receive impressions from our eyes but our hearts interpret those impressions. If our hearts are infected by bitterness, resentment, self-pity or some other hurt then the images our hearts receive are going to be distorted. And that will come full-circle to totally affect what we see…it will destroy our vision.

So, if we are to see things as they are…if we’re to experience God’s vision for our lives, we need to see them through God’s eyes and His heart. That was Jesus’ vision. I often quote John 5:19, “The Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” That was Jesus purpose…that was His life. And He calls each of us to the same vision.

More on this next time…