On the first day of this year I was praying together with our church leaders in Durrës, Albania. As we were talking and listening to God, He directed me to ask them to list every hindrance that they believed was blocking their growth as a church. The list was long and included things like culture, language and finances, to name a few. While they were writing their list, I wrote a much shorter list: three things that God showed me were the only hindrances to seeing the church grow and reach more people. These three hindrances are the same things that are holding you back from reaching your goals.
The only three things holding you back from fulfilling your goals are:
- A lack of Vision
- Inactive or Weak Faith
- Insufficient Ability
- A Lack of Vision
Proverbs 29:18 KJV
Vision is a key ingredient to success – you have to know where you’re going if you want to get anywhere. Success doesn’t happen by accident. No one ever accomplished anything significant without being purposeful and without having a picture inside of them of what they wanted to accomplish. Vision is having a picture on the inside of your heart and mind of what should be. Without vision we will perish: we will waste time, resources and energy on things that are insignificant. Many people are frustrated because they don’t know the direction in which they should be going.
The truth is that life is not just about having some goals or a dream of what you’d like to accomplish. It’s about having God’s vision for your life – His dream of what you should accomplish. Many people are frustrated in life because they are trying to accomplish something that they were not created to accomplish. They are square pegs trying to fit into round holes. God’s vision for your life will fit like a glove! It will bring satisfaction and fulfilment like nothing else can.
How do we get God’s vision for our lives?
Psalm 37:4 KJV
This doesn’t mean that if you desire something (like a Ferrari) you’ll get it. The word delight in this verse means pliable or mouldable. This verse is saying that when our hearts are open to be influenced by God (mouldable), then He will give us desires to desire – He will cause us to desire what we should desire.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” Romans 12:1-2 KJV
If you want to know what His good, and acceptable, and perfect will (His vision) for your life is, then start with being a living sacrifice (having an attitude of ‘not my will, but Your will, God’) and then renewing your mind (starting to think like God thinks – starting to be Word minded). When we start thinking like God thinks, we will start to see what God sees.
Fulfilling God’s vision for your life will be much easier than fulfilling your own vision, because God’s blessing and empowering is upon His vision and plans.