On Vision

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (Proverbs 28:19)

In nonprofit circles, people often talk about impact. It helps to know how your organization is affecting the lives of a variety of individuals – changing them for the better. But impact only occurs when an action has taken place. Impact is the result of an action. A child can tie their shoelaces or cook spaghetti or say the word “hello” because you were able to act in his or her life – that is, have an impact.

Cosmologists speak in terms of the first action, the grand moment that set the universe as a whole into motion. In the Christian perspective, that moment was when God spoke, his voice echoing throughout the whole of the universe, until all that had existed before could not hold it. And behold, there was light.

But in fact, there was something that came before light. That light could not have existed without the germ of an idea that burst to life in the mind of God. There, He envisioned a universe populated with stars and planets, a place of life and death and the process from one to the other. That first statement from God would never have existed if He didn’t have something in mind that He wanted that light to reveal. Light would never have existed if He hadn’t had the idea that plants would draw nourishment from it through photosynthesis. He would never have created it if He hadn’t had the idea that soon, there would be this wonderful mechanism called an eye that would be able to behold it.

God had a vision, sometime long ago in eternity past, for a world with each and every one of us in it. And His vision was so good that it was worth the pain of sin and death – even the death of His Son.

So how does vision come? It comes with the understanding that things could be better. Whether that’s a feeding program or a Bible study or speaking a language, there are always things that could be done better in our own lives or for the lives of others. It starts with an understanding that whatever that other thing is, it’s better than what we are doing right now. Perhaps it means travelling to Costa Rica and seeing the possibilities for transformation there. With God, it meant that eternity past in perfect communion with the Son and the Holy Spirit was amazing… but time spent with frail, broken humanity would be better.

 And the fact is, without that divine vision, not a single one of us would be here today.

So, what is your vision? For your church? For your community? Feel free to comment below!

And, if you have not had the chance to go already, go visit Costa Rica this summer to get a vision for how you and your family could be a part of God transforming them for the better. To get more info, click on the link below. 

Written by: John Michael Den Hartog