Vision: A Preferred Future

Vision . . . that’s a big word. It has a lot of different meanings.

When I say “vision” those of us with glasses or other problems with our eyesight might think in terms of how far we can—or cannot—see. If I were to mention the idea of a biblical vision you might immediately think of a prophet in the desert receiving a widescreen, cinematic mental movie from God, complete with surround sound and subwoofers.
But when I think of the word “vision” I am thinking of a simple—yet powerful—concept of the ability to see and work to bring about a version of the future that you find compelling. It is something that has elements of sight—maybe better called “foresight” in this setting—while also being inspired by God.
There was once a lowly servant. Born in exile from his homeland, he had never laid eyes on the city of his forefathers. But he held in his heart a yearning for that city. A passion for his people. He held in his heart a vision, one that many would claim was just an impossible pipe dream. And to everyone else, perhaps it was just that . . . but not to Nehemiah.
Nehemiah held in his heart a vision for Israel and for Jerusalem. This vision was so compelling to Nehemiah that when he was given first-hand news of the state of Jerusalem—broken walls, burned gates, and people in danger—when he heard of that he broke down and wept. Nehemiah knew—he just knew—that something must be done. And so he prayed, and he planned, and he watched, and he waited . . . and when the opportunity finally came for his vision to be birthed he was ready. He stood before kings and boldly made his request. He traveled long distances over difficult terrain to get back to his homeland. He stood firm and unmoving in the face of adversity and opposition and bravely faced down plots and plans intended by wicked men to derail the completion of his vision . . .
. . . and he did what no one else said could be done.
In just fifty-two days Nehemiah saw his vision fulfilled. In just fifty-two days the entire wall surrounding Jerusalem was rebuilt, her gates of safety were restored, and the people of Israel once again declared the praises of God inside the gates of Zion. Fifty . . . two . . . days.
That’s what a vision can do! Vision can take the lowliest of servants, the mildest of men, the vilest of villains, and transform them into a Godly force to be reckoned with. Vision brings a fire in the belly, a holy discontent and a hunger to bring about something that is greater than yourself. With a vision compelling you, you can overcome pain and persevere through obstacles. You can have character in the face of adversity. A vision brings victory, lending you the power of knowing that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love and power of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I have a vision for you. I have a vision for this church. I have a vision for my family. And for today my vision is nothing more than for you today to grasp the concept that you can have vision, that in Christ you can make an impact on people’s lives that will far outlive you and that generations later people can point back to you and give praise to God and say, “There was a man of passion. There was a woman of principle. There was a person of vision.”
In the weeks to come we’re going to look at this notion of vision. Today we’ll talk about the concept of vision—what it involves and how to develop a good and God-pleasing mental image of the future. Next week we’ll handle a tricky subject: how to continue to trust in God when it seems that your vision is failing. We’ll talk about how to remain faithful to God when it seems your vision is falling apart, or worse yet, when it is fizzling out. And in the final week we’re going to take what we’ve learned about vision in general—how it can apply to our personal and family lives—we’ll take what we’ve learned and begin to apply it to our corporate lives as members of Our Saviour Lutheran Church in a little old place called Hudson, Michigan.
But to get there we must first start here. What does “vision” mean? A simple three-word definition of “vision” is seeing a preferred future. When I was working on a church plant in Delaware I had put a lot of work and effort and prayer into it. I could see the people that would populate that church, the building that would one day be built, the lives that would be impacted. And as I laid it all out on paper, one well-meaning individual came to me and asked, “Can you really see all this happening?” And I said, “I can’t not see it.” I had such a passion for that as yet unborn church that I already saw what it would become in twenty years’ time. I had built in my mind a version of the future that I believed was preferable to all other possibilities.
Vision is a preferred future. It can be a preferred future for your marriage, your business, your children. It can be a version of the future that would be preferable for your community, your township, your state, your country. It is more than just a nice daydream, a pleasant game of “What if?”, it is a preferred version of the future that you can see in your mind, that changes how you live today, that compels you to daily action in such a way as to bring that preferred future into a concrete reality.
Now, you may be thinking that seeing a preferred future in your mind is a good idea, and I’d say it is. It’s a good thing to have good ideas! But if you’re going to grasp this concept of “vision” in the Biblical sense that I want you to, we’re going to have to learn to distinguish good ideas from God ideas.
A true vision for the future is always more than just a good idea. It is a God idea. A God idea is a vision born from the heart of God and the pages of His Word. It is borne upon the wings of the Holy Spirit. When you start to look at it that way, a God-inspired vision of the future begins to take upon the characteristics of a moral imperative: It matures from something that could be done to something that must be done.
What are the characteristics of a God idea? How do we distinguish between a good idea and a God idea? The book of Nehemiah gives us a few pointers.
The first test to distinguish between a good idea and a God idea is that it address a need—either felt or perceived—of people. Pay careful attention to Nehemiah’s priorities in Nehemiah 1:1-3, “While I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, "Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
Nehemiah’s first concern—as is God’s—is about the people of Jerusalem. They are in “great trouble and disgrace.” Why? Because the protective walls and gates of the city are in ruins. Nehemiah’s prayer to God isn’t to restore the glory of the city, but it focuses upon the plight of the people and the promises of God.
Write this down: a vision is a burden to fix people’s problems. God cares very little for buildings or riches or things . . . but He cares a great deal about people. So much so that He sent His one and only Son so that all who believe in Him might have eternal life. Any version borne from the heart of God will have people as its focal point.
The second test is that a Godly vision stands up to the test of time. When Nehemiah first heard of the plight of the people of Jerusalem he broke down and wept, but he stayed broken for months. The time between chapters one and two, the time between the month of Kislev when Nehemiah first spoke to the travelers from Judah and the month of Nisan when he finally spoke to the king was over four months. During that time his vision for Jerusalem and her inhabitants did not die out.
It’s pretty easy to hear a passionate missionary speak on the all-important and immediate need for overseas missionaries and feel so moved at that very moment that you would be willing to leave tomorrow. But what happens a few days later? The burning desire cools down and you go back to business as usual. What you thought was a lightning bolt from heaven call from God turns out to be nothing more than a passionate response to a very convincing speaker. But a true vision from God doesn’t die out after a few days, and in fact as time passes it continues to build and build in your heart. The second test of a God idea is that it must stand the test of time.
The third test is that there will be some confirmation along the way, some sense and indication that God is preparing the road ahead of you. Twice in chapter two Nehemiah is given confirmation that God is at work. In Nehemiah 2:1-6 Nehemiah is given his opportunity to make his request before the King, and although there was not one single reason in the world why the King of Assyria would desire the capitol city of one of his former enemies rebuilt, Nehemiah still notes in verse six, “It pleased the king to send me.” When Nehemiah finally gets to Jerusalem and speaks to the people there, the ones that that have been living with the status quo of broken walls and risky lives, he tells them of his radical idea to rebuild and it is clear God has moved in their hearts, because they reply in verse eighteen, “Let us start rebuilding.” God is at work behind the scenes paving the way for Nehemiah’s vision of a preferred future for the people of Jerusalem.
Andy Stanley, in his ground-breaking book Visioneering, says this, “If God has birthed a vision in you, he is in the process of developing a similar vision in the hearts of others around you. When the time comes to share your vision, it will ring true in the souls of those He has been preparing.” The third test of a God idea is that He will bring confirmation that your vision is more than a good idea, it is a God idea.
There is more to say on this subject, we haven’t yet talked about living in the tension of a vision that isn’t coming true yet, and we haven’t talked about the process of how too actually give birth to a Godly vision, how to make that preferred future a reality. But both of those vary from person to person, from time to time, from vision to vision. Some of those things you just have to learn from the school of hard knocks, and a Godly vision will continue to live despite a few mistakes along the way.
So instead of talking in generalities about those things, as I close today I want to get very specific about God’s vision for your life. I want to talk about Christ and the cross and how that permeates every single aspect of a God-inspired vision.
John 3:16 16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Isaiah 50:6-7 6 I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. 7 Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.

At the very top of this church—almost directly above where I am standing now—there stands a cross. And when darkness falls across the city there is one light that still shines, illuminating that cross and calling people to a beacon of hope and life. God’s vision for you is to answer that call in faith, believing upon the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him receiving forgiveness of all your past deeds and causing you to carry that light with you into the darkness of the worlds where you once lived. His vision is for you to receive, and then to carry, the life and light of Jesus Christ into the preferred future that He has envisioned for you.



NIV 1 Timothy 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-- of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.