Start with the End in Mind - Vision
Where there is no vision, the people perish - Proverbs 29:18
When my family bought our first home, the yard was beautifully landscaped by the builder. However, I still bought some bushes to fill in the open spaces in the garden. After a few years, the garden gradually became so crowded and began to lose its beauty. Only then did I realize that I failed to understand how big the bushes would grow over the years. It took me more effort to dig out the bushes I planted to restore the original beauty of my garden.
An experienced gardener knows this very well and plants bushes or trees with ample space between them because he designs the garden with an end picture in his mind.
After several years, we bought our second home. With the lesson I learned, this time when landscaping, I first read the instructions to know how big the bushes will grow. Then, I planted them with proper spacing. Now, whenever I see a crowded landscape in my neighbors’ yard, I smile and think that they must be the first-time homeowners and landscaping without realizing how big the bushes will grow over years.
If our life is a garden, we should have a clear picture of the end so that we will not crowd the garden and lose its natural beauty.
My dear friend, do you have a clear picture of your life? What does your garden look like in your mind? What is your vision in life?
Most people enter life without a big picture and are constantly dragged by daily activities and busy schedules. Pleasures come and go instantly and we are left to feel unsatisfied, lost, and empty.
Without a vision, life is aimless and will reach nowhere. The Bible says, where there is no vision, the people perish (Proverb 29:18). Vision is the big picture of our future. Purpose is the reason why we pursue that picture. Without a purpose, we lack passion. Without a vision, we are like a blind man who are walking and circling around the same area, reaching nowhere.
Everything starts with a reason and exists for a purpose whether we realize it or not. It is not by accident that we were born into this world, yet we are unaware of our life's purpose and the end picture and vision. Vision is from the creator, God and HE is the initiator of everything as He has claimed, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End (Revelation 22:13). He made the heavens and earth, he sowed seeds, including you, me, and everyone else.
As illustrated in the figure on the left, you, me, and everyone else are seeds planted by God with unique purposes in each of our life’s journey.
Dr. Robert Schuller said “You can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you cannot count the number of apples in a seed.”
How many apples are in you and me? God, the sower knows it well.
How much can we achieve in our life? We do not know but God knows it well.
We have to earnestly and constantly call to God. As He said, You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13). So Ask, believe, and seek, and we shall find. The Lord said again, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). When we ask him, He will answer us at His time and reveal His secrets. Once we know His secrets, we will gain the vision of life that He predestined for us. When we gain our vision, life is not aimless anymore. It is mission oriented and purpose driven. Our life becomes meaningful, exciting, and adventuresome. So the first step to grow to our fullest is to find our vision and develop our mission.
My book, Grow to Your Fullest, starts by pointing out that we are a valuable seed with unlimited potentials planted by God. He has put His big vision into our life so that we may reach our fullest. Not only does He put His vision and purpose into our life, but He also has a calling for us to fulfill.
How do we find our calling, vision, and mission? Please read the book, Grow to Your Fullest
After we have our vision, we will begin our journey to reach it. However, the journey to life’s fullest is not smooth as we usually face two types of obstacles: internal and external. What are they? Please stay tuned for the next message, Conquer the Internal Obstacles.
May we start our life with a vision in mind so that we may grow to our fullest.
