Day 4 – Tuning into God’s Vision

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:9-10

 

“that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints…”

Ephesians 1:17-18

What is God’s Vision?

J esus teaches us in the Lord’s prayer (and in many other parts of the Bible) that God’s vision is ‘On earth as it is in heaven’. This means God envisions a unified Kingdom. He sees a world in which He will once again “walk in the cool of the day” with humanity in uninterrupted intimacy, as He once did with Adam and Eve before their sin. A place where He will take care of heavenly business and we, His children, will take care of earthly business. Revelation 21 and 22 are also great places to check for what God’s vision looks like. But still, God’s vision can be incredibly difficult to comprehend for each of us on an individual level.

“God’s vision can be seen as a gigantic puzzle.”

We recently had a hard time completing a 1000 piece puzzle. We managed to identify almost the entire border of the puzzle, as well as pieces for different parts of the picture. Our advantage was that we could actually see what the finished puzzle should look like; the picture was on the box. Yet, we still failed to complete it due to lack of time and full knowledge of all the pieces. 

God’s vision can be seen as a gigantic puzzle. Everyone, Christians, and non Christians alike, are puzzle pieces that make up part of God’s vision. Every puzzle piece is unique, has its perfect place (purpose), and is irreplaceable. Your importance as a piece of God’s vision matters and shouldn’t be forgotten, trivialised or ignored. It must be embraced and should encourage you to live your best life. 

We don’t have a box with a picture of God’s vision though, so we need a different means to understand where we fit in it. So while we can in part know what God’s vision is, without wisdom and revelation, we will fail to adequately align our everyday lives to His vision. This is where Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians in Ephesians 1:17-19 comes in.

“Wisdom and revelation leads to God’s Vision”

In the time of Paul, the city of Ephesus (meaning ‘desire’) was the centre of idol worship, full of witches, sorcerers, astrologers, psychics etc. You should keep this context in mind when you read Ephesians. Paul is writing to the Ephesians, like a father to his children who are in the most spiritually and morally compromising place. 
He is reminding them of the basic ingredients needed to maintain their spiritual identity, integrity and inheritance. This is ultimately about helping the Ephesians to not lose sight of God’s vision. In Chapter 1, verse 17-18, Paul is praying to God for wisdom and revelation for the Ephesians so they may know God’s purpose for their lives. That’s because their purpose determines how they fit into God’s vision. Therefore, wisdom and revelation lead to God’s vision.

We should also all pray for what is needed for us to tune into God’s vision, but in particular we must pray for wisdom and revelation.

Vision gets clearer with time

Even when God’s vision is really clear to you, it can suddenly become even clearer with time. You will likely notice that as you review your purpose and create vision plans, the scope and features of your vision can become clearer. For example, when I (Gyles) received a vision from God to work in Healthcare IT, I knew it would involve supporting clinicians to do the same. But the scope of this, including international travel and speaking at conferences only became part of the vision once I started to formulate plans. I also needed to just let time pass and pursue the vision so that what used to be in the distance slowly but surely became clearer to me as I drew closer to it. More features of the vision came into view and my life changed accordingly.

In Summary

God’s vision is ‘On earth as it is in heaven’. His vision can be seen as a big puzzle in which each of us has a place and purpose. For us to tune into the details of God’s vision we need to spend time with God in His Word and in prayer. Specifically, we must pray for and seek both wisdom and revelation, so we know our purpose. 

Questions to ask yourself

1. What do you think God’s vision looks like?
2. What is helping or hindering you tuning into God’s vision?
3. Do you pray for wisdom? Why, or why not?
4. Have you ever prayed for revelation? If so, what has God revealed to you?

A prayer to get you started

Father, thank you that your vision includes me. Thank you that you desire to speak to me and let your ways be known to me. You desire for me to grow in the spirit and have eternal life. You desire that none of us would perish, but that we would all join in your vision of intimacy. Help me to value the beauty and perfection of your vision more. Thank you that you won’t hold back wisdom from me when I ask you. Please open my eyes to your wisdom. Let me not be tossed to and fro by the wisdom of this world. I want to live out the purpose you have for me in your glorious vision. 

In Jesus’ Name I pray,

Amen.

Further Reading

Genesis 1 and Revelation 21-22 covers God’s vision
Proverbs 1-9 (all chapters), Ephesians 5:15-17 and James 1:5 covers wisdom
Psalm 25:4-5 covers revelation

Up Next

Tomorrow we review God’s Purpose For All Christians. 

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