Seeing Things Clearly

Seeing Things Clearly

In 1789 William Wilberforce stood before the British parliament and eloquently cried out for the day when men, women and children would no longer be bought and sold like farm animals. Each year for the next eighteen years his bill was defeated, but he continued his tireless campaign against slavery. Finally, in 1883, four days before his dath, Parliament passed a bill completely abolishing slavery.

 A compelling vision is at the very core of leadership. Inspired leaders can change the world.

Proverbs 29:18 says “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.” They can’t focus, they can’t follow their dream or their goal. Jesus told the church what to do. He ordered people around, told them what to do with their lives and how they were to do it. From one aspect his motivational style could look like a command post. He says “follow me” and “go into all the world”. He directs his followers toward the vision of God for them, and influences them by doing it himself. The followers of Jesus discover that this task is not only important for its own sake but that it matters personally to their leader.

In a time of great change, people are looking for direction. Discerning God's vision for a church or organisation is vital, but that is not enough. Leaders themselves are often at a loss for how to invest their time and energy given the many opportunities and demands around them. And in all this, it is so easy to lose our primary vision, that of God Himself. What has God asked us, personally to do with our lives on earth? 80% (maybe more) of our personal vision from God is alrready outlined in the bible, it's figuring out the remaining 20% that we need to focus on.

"The Place god calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meets" Frederick Buechner
 

As a leader, discerning your personal vision from God is imperative to being motivational, inspirational and visionary in your ministry. We need to find, understand and fulfill God's particular calling for our lives and use it to give direction to how we use our time, talents and treasure.

"In a society which presents many of us with a large range of options for ourselves and our families, discerning a personal vision is becoming increasingly important as a tool in charting our way through life's decisions" Steve Croft
 

A personal vision statement is a written tool to help us identify God's priorities for our lives. It's like a compass that helps give directon. It's wholistic and doesn't focus exclusively on our service or ministry. God desires us to be fully transformed and focussed to His purposes in all aspects of our lives. therefore, a wholistic vision statement will include spirtual intimacy, godly character, community/reltionships and service components.

A great personal vision includes the 6 P's

Personal - Is this unique to me?
Purpose - Is it compelling?
Passion- Does reading it fill me with energy?
Priorities - Does it help me say 'yes' and 'no'?
Prayerfulness - Does seeking to live it out put me on my knees?
Perserverance - Will it motivate me to press on in the midst of challenges and obstacles?


Looking back on my own leadership journey, I can see in my own life what I could not see at the time - how the job I lost helped me find work I needed to do, how the "road closed" sign turned me toward the terrain I needed to travel, how losses that felt iredeemable forced me to discern meanings I needed to understand. on the surface, it seemed that life was lessening, but silently ad lavishly, the seeds of new life were always being sown. Having a personal vision steers me toward what God has laid out for me in life, striving toward extending His kingdom and glorifying His name. Because my deepest awareness of myself is that I'm saved by Jesus Christ!