Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, so that anyone can see it as they pass by. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it seems slow in coming, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.  Habakkuk 2:2,3

Some reading this series so far might think I’m leading up to setting goals and vision statements and so forth. Not at all. That ground has been well trodden over the past many years. When I speak of visions and purpose, I’m talking about something God gives us. A destination and a goal. Something ‘God lays on our hearts’ and gives us a passion for.

God gave King David a passion when he wrote his famous lines: “One thing I ask from the Lord” (Ps 27) and it’s often in the spiritual realm but not always. Nehemiah’s vision was to build a wall. What makes our visions Godly is that they come from God, Himself.

Godly vision consists of a farsightedness and perceptiveness that come from Him. Farsightedness vision allows us to know what is ahead like a telescope. It connects us to the future God has prepared for us. Foresight is the part of a God-given vision that can ‘taste’ the future and gives us the motivation to press on toward the goal God has placed before us (Phil 3:14).

Farsightedness vision sees the big picture; it gives us the context within which we move forward in Jesus. Contextual vision causes us to love the work because we can see the end result from where we are. It’s the difference between being an engineer who designs a great invention and a draftsman who draws lines in the spec without any idea how it all fits together.

Perceptiveness vision is almost the opposite of farsightedness. Instead of vision through a telescope, it’s like viewing life through a microscope. This awareness gives us an understanding that goes beyond WHAT is happening to WHY things happen in life. It also helps determine the underlying motivations of hearts—our own and others.

There is a perspective that we can only receive from God showing us “what’s really going on”. Issachar’s children understood the times and had knowledge of what God’s people should do (I Chron 12:32). When we’re blessed with this type of vision often have great wisdom in defining HOW we are to get from here to the goal to which God has called us.

There were three bricklayers working on a wall. A reporter came up to the first one and asked, “What are you doing.” “I am laying bricks!” the first bricklayer answered. The reporter asked the second bricklayer the same question. “I am building a wall,” declared bricklayer number two. Then the last bricklayer was asked, “What are you doing.” The final bricklayer answered, “I am building a cathedral for the glory of God!”

The first two bricklayers had a task. The third had a vision. And that’s the difference a vision makes.