“Where there is no vision the people will perish.” -Proverbs 29:18

Most often when we hear this verse, we apply this only to a leadership principle. Although this maybe true, I believe it has a more direct connection to each of our personal journeys.  The fact that we do not need to give up on the vision that God has put on our heart. We may have that vision of what God wants for us and struggling to take more steps. The path just seems to always get tougher, more challenging, and constantly beats us up. We start to question is this what I am supposed to be doing? Should I be doing something else? If this is my purpose, then why is this so hard? I must have made a mistake? This is the enemy attempting to take your vision away. He is trying to use your doubt and frustration to kill your drive. Always remember that the enemy attacks those that are the greatest threat. So when you are seeking great purpose, expect great confrontation. This battle is just like being a struggling running back trying to get into the end zone. We have a vision of where we are going but are constantly facing obstacles. The only viewpoint is from the helmet, trying to navigate down the field against 11 defenders. When we have that helmet on, we can only react to what we see, we lose sight of what we cannot see, and may not realize what is being Godly orchestrated for us…

What the helmet sees… You are fighting to get to the end zone with incredible energy and keep getting tackled. Your elbows are scrapped, bleeding from your knees, and have mud mired to your face. You are exhausted and so frustrated thinking that you will never actually score a touchdown. You have been trying to dodge every defender on every play. You are confused and do not know how many more times you can get knocked down. The thoughts begin to creep in your mind to just quit. You are ready for coach to just take you off the field. We are only seeing it from our viewpoint, and we are beginning to become crushed in our mental, spiritual, or emotional state. This can often be how we feel everyday as we pursue purpose.

What the helmet does not see… In reality, our helmet gives us a limited view, we don’t see everyone working around us. We may be getting tackled by one person, but 10 other people are being shielded from you. We don’t see Coach, trying to correct and guide the other players to be able to block better. We don’t see or hear the Coaches in the press box discussing and coming up with the best strategy to score. We get frustrated when the offense has to punt and we have to sit on the bench. We lose sight that when our punter and defense does their job, then we will get the ball closer to the end zone. We simply are wrapped into our feelings and viewpoint. This also relates to our greatest oversight on the path to purpose.

God’s vantage point… He can see everything going on around you and knows exactly what is coming next. God sees the whole play unfold in every moment of your life. He sees our lives and situations from the angle of a drone camera. He does not want to see you fail, get frustrated, and continue to get knocked down. Just remember that Jesus was tempted by everything on this Earth and was beaten down worse than we could ever imagine. All he wants is for you to not give up, keep getting in the huddle, and run the play with all you have. Just because you get tackled a few times, does not mean you are not a running back. Just because you fail in life a few times, does not mean that you are not a life success. We can want things to happen so bad in our own way. But, sometimes he is just moving all the pieces around and working in other peoples lives. He is perfectly  lining everything up for your impact. He also uses people that love us and care for us to give wise discernment. Someone that has a different perspective and that can speak to us through a Godly perspective. God has put a passion on your heart for a reason and just wants you to get stronger with every carry.

What happens if we do not give up…  And then that moment finally happens… The ball is snapped and you get the handoff… The line of scrimmage opens like the Red Sea… And you sprint through the line straight to the end zone. You cross that goal line and have this overwhelming sense of joy to finally score!! The unbelievable feeling when all 10 teammates come to celebrate with you. The Coaches are giving high fives and yelling with great enthusiasm. Just like in life, when we do not give up, we will eventually score. And the people God put in our lives will be celebrating. God will be giving high fives to the angels in heaven and they will be shouting with enthusiasm. Remember, God sees what we do not see, and he uses all things for good. He is teaching you something with every carry in the game. He is teaching us something with every step on our journey. God is simply working out the things around us and in the game of life for his ultimate purpose. It is only when we can go back and watch the game film, that we realize how everything worked out for our good. And when we look back on our journey, we will be astonished at how God worked and used all circumstances.  Every time he gives us Victory, we gain more confidence to get in the huddle for the next drive. God doesn’t plan bad things to happen to us, but he can use all things for good. So Pray and ask God for his vision, often he gives that to us through people in our lives that know us best… And just remember Victory has been claimed in advance…. Keep running the play he calls!

“For we live by faith, and not by sight.” – 2 Corinthians 5:7

 Photo Credit:

Top Photo by Riley McCullough on Unsplash

Middle Photo by Ashton Clark on Unsplash

Bottom Photo by Keith Johnston from Pixabay