Clarifying Vision
Clarifying Vision
It’s impossible to aim for a target that doesn’t exist. Clarifying our vision is the natural next step when we understand our purpose and work toward discovering our calling. I’ve become convinced over the years that our minds think in pictures, not words, and that’s a big admission from a writer. Words are merely tools to communicate. Like all ideas, vision is a spiritual seed. Unlike natural seeds, it’s difficult to predict the germination period for a spiritual seed. There are a lot of factors. Is our mind a fertile environment? Do we water and tend it? Does our Creator know we are ready to steward the yield it will produce? We are responsible for preparing the soil, sowing the seed, watering the seedlings, tending the plants, and stewarding the yield. We are accountable for the process, not the outcome. God is the only one who can create growth.
Preparing Good Soil
The first step to clarifying our vision is to ensure that our soil is prepared correctly. Jesus shares four types of soil in his parable of the sower in Matthew 13. The first ground is a hard-packed path that is not open to God’s spiritual seeds due to a lack of faith and receptiveness. The second ground is the shallow rocky soil, which receives the seeds enthusiastically but becomes scorched quickly because the roots lack courage and depth to withstand harsh conditions. The third ground is an untended thorn thicket, which chokes out the seed due to a lack of perseverance and capacity to focus on what truly matters. The fourth type of ground is the good soil that accepts the seed with faith, conquers challenges with courage, and perseveres through distractions to produce a yield of a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown. Our thoughts, behaviors, and beliefs influence which kind of soil we will be. If we want better soil, we must remove the junk and make room for the important stuff.
Here are a few questions to consider to improve your soil quality:
What are you listening to, watching, or consuming that’s not beneficial for building your belief?
What practices could you add to strengthen your faith?
What fears have stopped you from moving toward the life God has called you to live?
What are some times that you know God pulled you through a situation you couldn’t have navigated alone?
Which area(s) of your life do you feel stagnant or held back?
What’s one tiny step you can take to make progress?
Sowing Seeds of Vision
Once we prepare our soil, we are ready to sow and receive seeds of vision. It’s time to dream! Capture the favorite pieces of your vision to review regularly. Make it detailed and vivid. Many years ago, while I was working as a full-time employee using nights, weekends, and lunch breaks to build and operate my other businesses, I dreamt about using my evenings to leisurely prepare big, delicious meals to share during an unrushed dinnertime with the people I love the most. My desire to make this vision a reality influenced my choices. Every decision we make takes us one step closer or further from the kind of person we want to be and the kind of life we want to live. It was hard to imagine having the time or energy to take 2 hours to prepare and enjoy a fresh meal most evenings, but I started taking small steps towards the idea and installed boundaries with my work habits. These days, I typically turn on my playlist and start leisurely cooking around 4:00 pm. When I reach for fresh garlic instead of a jar of preminced (or a microwave meal), I am reminded not to take the small details of vision for granted. I know what it’s like to be low on energy and time, so I deeply appreciate and fiercely protect this time because it fills my cup. My vision now involves a longer table to gather and break bread as I deepen connections and share my love with others in tangible ways. What’s the equivalent of your big friends and family dinner?
When we create a vision for the first time, it’s helpful to start with a time in the not-so-distant future, like a year or two. It can be paralyzing to imagine ourselves closing the gap between our reality and vision if we start too far out. We may already have some ideas about what we’d like our lives to look like next year, but here are some questions to help spark our creativity. Answer them as if we are a year into the future.
How do I feel when I wake up?
What does my morning routine look like?
What does my home look like? How does the space make me feel?
Who’s in my life in a year? Who’s not?
What meaningful contribution do I add to the world through my work?
What does my office or workspace look like?
Who are the people I serve and contribute alongside each day?
How do I spend my afternoons and evenings?
How do I feel after reflecting on everything that’s improved over the past year?
Watering the Seedlings
We must continue to water our vision seedling once it’s planted so it continues to grow. We do this by revisiting our vision often to keep our hearts sensitive to opportunities, boldly progressing toward our vision one tiny step at a time, and persevering through trials that produce the maturity we need for what God has in store for us next.
How strongly do you feel the following statements apply to you?
My vision is tangible (written, pictures, etc.).
I review my vision at least weekly.
I identify at least one (tiny) step I can take towards my vision regularly.
I take the next step consistently (or assess why I didn’t).
Tending the Plant
My gardening experience has taught me that tending plants requires defense. As soon as the leaves are lush and the flower begins to fruit, every pest in a mile radius descends on it. The same can be true for our vision. We have promising traction, then people and situations completely outside our control test our resolve. As strange as it seems, this may be one of the best indicators that we’re on the right track. We must ensure our vision is aligned with God’s will, but we can’t assume that things are supposed to be perfect just because we’re on the right track. The eye of the storm can sometimes be the center of God’s plan for us. We learn in the book of James that we should consider it pure joy whenever we face trials because they are the best way to build perseverance and to develop maturity. Good soil and a fruitful garden will tend to attract weeds and pests, so we must learn to address them quickly to protect our new growth.
How strongly do you feel the following statements apply to you?
I protect my vision from skeptics and critics until it’s well-established.
I see setbacks and challenges as opportunities, not threats.
I evaluate how I handled challenges with curiosity, not demeaning self-criticism.
I celebrate what I did well and determine how I can improve for next time.
Stewarding the Yield
Unfortunately, it’s hard to estimate the germination period for a spiritual seed, but my pastor likes to remind us that we never reap in the same season we sow. Speaking of harvest season, my friends who owned a microfarm made an expensive investment in a pack of Bradford Watermelon seeds, which were going for $1 per seed. If you’re from the South, you know few things symbolize summertime better than a slice of sweet, juicy watermelon. I know it probably felt like losing a dollar for every seed they buried in that dirt, but when harvest time came, the results were incredible. They had thousands of seeds. There were so many that they had trouble finding enough people to share the seeds with. Their farm couldn’t support all the seeds produced in the harvest, so they shared the seeds with others so the 100X potential in each of those seeds would not go to waste. This will forever remain a testament to God’s abundance in my mind. What we choose to do with the abundance of our yield matters. God is so gracious that it’s rare for us to be able to contain it all. We must be brave enough to put that precious seed in the dirt and generous enough to share our abundance when the fruit comes so we’re ready to sow again for our next harvest.
How strongly do you feel the following statements apply to you?
I notice abundance in my life often and easily.
I am overwhelmingly grateful for everything entrusted to me to steward.
I generously share my expertise with the next person.
I eagerly look for ways to share my resources with others.
Stillness to Appreciate the Horizon
Aligning our vision with God’s will doesn’t mean we need to uproot our lives, or maybe it does for some. The point is, God can use us in just about any field or walk of life to make a difference. We don’t have to work for a church or a non-profit to fulfill God’s will for our lives. Our purpose, our calling, and our vision should be aligned to support God’s will. Vision requires the stillness to reflect on how all those pieces fit together. It allows us to realize the incredible compounding effects of living out our purpose and calling with faith, courage, and perseverance. Vision creates a target so we can align, overcome, and realign in a beautiful upward spiral. It is also dynamic, kind of like a horizon. Just when we think we’ve caught it, we find there’s even more beauty in store for us ahead.
Faith Encouragement
Matthew 13:23 - But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
1 Corinthians 3:7 - So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
James 1:2-4 - Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
Helen Keller: The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.
Next Steps
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