VisioneeringSample

“In God’s School”

If you saw The Empire Strikes Back, you may remember the scene in which Luke wants to go and rescue his friends before he has finished his Jedi Knight training. Yoda begs him to wait. “Luke, you must complete the training.”

But Luke has seen the future, and he knows his friends’ lives are in danger. He says, “I can’t keep the vision out of my head. They are my friends; I must help them.”

Yoda finally issues a dire warning. “If you leave now, help them you could, but you will destroy all for which they have fought and suffered.”

Still, Luke is determined to go. He is so locked in on what could and should be that he feels compelled to leave immediately. So he does. And do you remember what happens? Everything works out great!

But that’s in a galaxy far, far away. Back here where we live, action before preparation usually spells disaster.

In the case of your divinely ordered vision, God goes to work in you to prepare you for what he knows lies ahead. Like Luke Skywalker, you may so urgently feel the need to act that it seems foolish to wait. But God is sovereign. Keep that in mind. Your vision is simply an extension of his vision. And his timing is perfect.

For a while, God will be working in you to prepare you to act on his purposes. And I think we can assume his purposes are in accordance with his timetable.

All this can be hard to hear, can’t it? I know. I have found that the complaint most associated with the process of visioneering is about God’s timing. Once the vision is clear, we assume we are ready. Otherwise, why would he have given us the vision in the first place?

Don’t be impatient. Don’t move before God leads. Accept his training and his timing. Meanwhile, your vision, though it may burn inside you, will enable you to endure the wait, because you know it’s worth it to get it right.

Vision always precedes preparation. Initially, your vision will exceed your competency. Within the context of that tension, God will go to work on you.

To the extent that you can, identify how God is preparing you now to fulfill your vision effectively later on.