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What is your excuse for not asking God to give you a vision—a new beginning, a new passion for pursuing all he wants to do with you and through you? Here’s one of those excuses:
I’ve made too many mistakes, there is too much baggage from my past for me to do anything great for God.
If God only used people with perfect track records, there would be no one to use. God takes us where we are and tells us to put our past behind us and move forward to the good things he wants to do for us. Isaiah wrote: “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19).
There may be other excuses you have for your lack of vision, but could it be that you don’t have a vision of what God wants to do through you is because you’ve never asked for a vision? James wrote “You do not have, because you do not ask God” (James 4:2b). Jesus told us “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; to the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).
How do we recognize God’s vision?
Are you willing to ask God for a vision? You say, “I’m not sure I would know one if I saw it!” Good question—how do we know God’s vision for us?
A vision from God will be born in love—love of God, love of the Lord Jesus, and love of others. A God-given vision will not depend upon your giftedness or your hard work or your promotional abilities, though your gifts will be used and you will work hard. But the success of your vision will be a God-thing that can only be explained by his power working in you. And it will always be in harmony with God’s Word.
I urge you to seriously consider whether you need to ask God to give you a vision, to help you step out by faith and realize the potential he has created in you, and the joy that comes when you walk by faith and not by sight.