What seems like an impossibility to us, is a possibility for God. Every great achievement that has ever been accomplished in ministry or any other area has been done because somebody had a dream. Nothing starts happening until somebody starts dreaming. When we deal with vision in these writings, we are concentrating on that which God gives believers to accomplish; His plan for their lives, churches, or business organizations. Vision begins in the heart of God. He is the creator of all things including the dreams and vision that honor him and bring glory to his followers. God-honoring dreams are what you can’t accomplish through your own efforts. God is big enough to do what you think cannot be done, using your skills, talents or gifts. Too often we get caught up in the “how” of the dream. We want to be able to see an outline of how this is going to work before we commit ourselves or our resources to the vision. To a certain degree that is understandable, after all you are only human, not divine. If what is going on is of God, don’t worry and don’t waste valuable time over the “how”, just stand back and watch God do the “how.”

I once heard Ed Young Jr., pastor of Fellowship Church say, “Great visionaries also have the ability to recognize their resources. God always puts resources in our vision, right before us. If we hear our vision and see our vision from God, we can discern the resources.” If David had not been walking with God, he would not have understood how to really use the sling against Goliath. He wouldn’t have picked up the five stones. He would have probably put on Saul’s armor. But, because he had the discernment, God provided the resources to carry out his vision. The resources are always there for you and for me to live the life of God’s vision.

This is where the “God-thing” happens that neither you nor I can explain logically, but is very easy to comprehend spiritually. After all, we serve a God who created everything we see and if He has the power to do that, then who am I to doubt Him. Our part in this vision process is to be ready when the vision is given and seize the opportunity to serve God by carrying out His vision. Again, don’t get caught up in “how” God will pull off what needs to be done. Besides fear, this is the second greatest hindrance that keeps us from fulfilling God’s vision. The real reason why we ask the “how” question, is because of our lack of faith. A lack of faith is the number one reason God doesn’t work through us to fulfill his vision for the world as well as the dreams that we have in how to accomplish that task. I talked earlier about pleasing God. The scripture is very clear that if we don’t have faith, then it is impossible to please God.

All throughout the history of the Bible, we see the men and women that God used to carry out his vision in and through them was always by faith. It was their faith in God that stirred up within them the courage to do what no one else wanted to do or what no one thought could be done. It was faith that led them to take that first step with boldness knowing that God was with them each step of the way. It was that same faith that led many followers of Christ to a martyr’s death. It was their faith that made a kingdom impact. Does that describe your faith?

Living out your faith is never easy. When you take a step of faith the devil will whisper, “It will never work. Not for you. Not someone with your history. Don’t make a fool of yourself, God is not interested.” Those kinds of thoughts keep us from living by faith. God says don’t listen, don’t give up, don’t give in. How can we ever expect to live out God’s vision for our lives if we do not live out our faith in action? Remember, vision is the ability to see a preferred future and then to take action to develop that vision. What future do you see?