Vision in Action
Vision in Action
Vision in Action
Vision in Action
Learn what it means to have dreams and visions and be confident they are aligned with God’s vision for your life.
Visions are important for families, companies, and all relationships. Listen as Howard and Brantley discuss what a vision is, what makes a good vision, and how to know if our visions are aligned with God's will.
Audio Transcript
Our Purpose
Brantley: In the past couple of episodes we’ve been discussing our ‘why’, how our ‘why’ matters, its influence on our core values, and how everything is from God. This impacts all our daily work, and our discussion for today. So before we get into the specifics of vision, let’s do a quick recap of our previous discussions.
Howard: Our ‘why’ at The Center is we believe that God’s word defines reality and offers hope, and we all tend to separate our lives too much. We try to have a faith life that is limited to certain times and actions. We have a work life, social life, and hobby life. But at the same time, God is saying that it is all His. Everything is from Him, through Him, and for Him (Romans 11:36). We are made to be His. Augustine said this, “until we find our purpose, we will be restless.” This is so true. Until we find Jesus’ purpose for our lives we find ourselves chasing after other things. Our true purpose is to worship and glorify God is everything we do, and then we realize this changes all our daily actions. Having our ‘why’ centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ enables us to live in the peace and rest that He’s accomplished and freely given us — no matter how big or important of a task He’s given us to accomplish in our work, leadership, or family life.
Brantley: That foundation is important to be reminded of. That all our life belongs to Him and even our daily work is grounded in His truth. We can’t compartmentalize our work.
Howard: And, that’s not a to do list. It’s saying, “Oh, you’ve got me covered. You love me.” Then my life is a response in gratefulness, but also in purpose. To have a great purpose is there from the very beginning in Genesis. To put the earth under our dominion and His Lordship, to be fruitful and multiply — stuff we love to do. And, when you are doing it for Him, through Him, and in Him, you know you are doing the right thing. We are confident about all this on Sunday morning, but on Wednesday at 3:30 we tend to forget.
Brantley: I’m going to put you on the spot. Has there been a time in your life where you had those things separate? And, what was a time when they were in alignment?
Howard: Of course, all the time. The more I know this, the more I need to know this. I make up enemies I don’t have. So at work this can look like creating and executing meetings in such a way that it safeguards against those enemies. When really, I don’t have an enemy against flesh and blood. We have spiritual enemies, but we separate it. I think God will heal the person in the hospital I’m praying for, but I think I’ve got my own thing at work that I can control will various policies I can implement on my own.
Brantley: It’s helpful for me to hear that because I think all of us have tension points where we are misaligned. The tension can sometimes feel overwhelming, and at times I struggle with that myself. And, it’s all from God — including our daily work. Therefore, there is so much freedom in surrendering our work to Him.
Howard: Lord, you’ve got it; so what does it look like for me to be faithful? I’ve got to know why I’m here and choose values that are both uniquely mine and totally aligned with His word.
Visions And Dreams
Brantley: Exactly, so what we want to cover today are our visions and dreams because our visions and dreams can help with that alignment. So which is it? Is it dreams, vision, or both?
Howard: I’m going to go a step further. When we are aligned with God, not only can we dream dreams and see visions, but we can also prophesy. Peter, on the day of pentecost when so many people were coming to faith, they were dreaming dreams and having visions. Skeptics and critics thought they were drunk, but it says that in the last days God says, “I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your young ones and daughters will prophesy. Young men will have visions, and old men will dream dreams… I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” There are big prophecies, but when your dreams and visions are aligned with God’s will, you are prophesying. You can speak truth to your child and everyone else because of the great truth He has laid out. So yes, dreams and visions are synonymous.
Brantley: It’s almost weird to think that dreams, visions, and prophecies are in some way one and the same.
Howard: Yes, and in a business sense people like Henry Ford and Elon Musk have had great visions, and are good examples. And, visions have two main components. It’s a goal we have that is impacted by a burden we have. God gives us burdens, perhaps to fix a relationship, and we then build a vision for what that could be. Your vision does not have to be like Henry Ford’s or Elon Musk’s — to provide cars and space travel. But we need to have a sense for what could be, what should be, and filling out with detail what that can look like with our values as a person, leader, family, organization, etc.
Brantley: It’s really great to read other people’s vision statements. You were talking about how we are compelled to have a vision, but what is a vision? How do you define it?
Howard: A vision is a picture of the future with detail that accomplishes something by solving a burden.
Brantley: What interests me is the word ‘detail’. In the examples you gave of Ford and Musk, their visions are not ambiguous. They are very specific. The specificity of their vision draws people in to believe in it.
Howard: That’s right , and Andy Stanly’s book called Visioneering is incredibly helpful, and these are some of his insights. It’s a vision of the future that’s compelling to help a burden in the present that is worth acting on. There are 4 big components to that, but first you need to know that you are not supposed to act on every vision you have. Some need to be acted on immediately — such as helping someone cross the street. Other visions take much more time to implement and come to fruition. Visions have a problem, solution, a knowledge of what must be done, a time to act, and a reason to act now. Over time, our visions move to now.
Brantley: There’s a lot of pressure placed on visions. Whether it’s the right vision, how we are working on them together, etc. Even for The Center, when we were creating a vision it took weeks of discussion and prayer. Is it the right vision? How do we work that out and meditate on it? How do we align that with the Lord in such a way that it is worth leading others with.
Howard: God gave me this vision for The Center about 7-8 years ago. One of the inputs to that was Christopher Wright at a conference at Second Presbyterian. He showed that all of life is God’s and our workplace lives have just as much worship as our Sunday lives. This struck me because he put his finger on the problem I was experiencing and was burdened by. So I started to test that vision, and I realized every work moment was God’s. This brought a lot of peace and joy to my life and I want others to experience the same thing.
Brantley: I do think that the next piece is this; what does God’s word specifically say about vision?
Test Your Vision
Howard: Here are some points that are generally true from the Bible about vision. Over and over, people have dreams and visions. You see Paul having a vision to get to Rome. His vision was validated.
Brantley: The reason I asked the question in that way is because if we are testing our vision, it’s important that we are testing it with God’s word. Are there more examples of the current vision for where you are at to make sure you are aligned?
Howard: God gives us so many encouraging stories that help us align our visions with His. Joseph is a great example. He wanted people to look at his coat and told his brothers they would bow down to him. Maybe he could have communicated his vision in a better way, but he was fired up that he was special and he knew it. So Joseph's brothers threw him in a ditch and instead of leaving him to die they sold him. He does the right thing — he doesn’t sleep with his boss’ wife — and he gets thrown in prison. Then in prison he gets to test his gifts. That same gift that caused his brothers to throw him in a ditch was used by God to make him a ruler of Egypt. His bothers came to him in fear and Joseph saved them instead of smiting them. Joseph's story shows how just because you experience failure and pain does not mean the vision is not true. Sometimes, we even throw ourselves into our own ditch, but none of that can thwart the purpose of God in our lives.
Brantley: For those who feel restless and do not have a clear and detailed vision, hopefully this has provided a little bit of insight into how to test it with God’s word and will.
Howard: Paul says to test and approve in little ways what God’s will is.
Brantley: We can test it because we have the ultimate vision for our lives and all of history.
Howard: Yes, our ultimate vision is this: that one day, at the end of days, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all. There will be no more tears for the living God will wipe away every tear. We will enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise because His Son stood as a sacrifice on our behalf. Therefore, we can go and have visions of how to live today because we are secure.
Resources
Visions are important for families, companies, and all relationships. Listen as Howard and Brantley discuss what a vision is, what makes a good vision, and how to know if our visions are aligned with God's will.
Audio Transcript
Our Purpose
Brantley: In the past couple of episodes we’ve been discussing our ‘why’, how our ‘why’ matters, its influence on our core values, and how everything is from God. This impacts all our daily work, and our discussion for today. So before we get into the specifics of vision, let’s do a quick recap of our previous discussions.
Howard: Our ‘why’ at The Center is we believe that God’s word defines reality and offers hope, and we all tend to separate our lives too much. We try to have a faith life that is limited to certain times and actions. We have a work life, social life, and hobby life. But at the same time, God is saying that it is all His. Everything is from Him, through Him, and for Him (Romans 11:36). We are made to be His. Augustine said this, “until we find our purpose, we will be restless.” This is so true. Until we find Jesus’ purpose for our lives we find ourselves chasing after other things. Our true purpose is to worship and glorify God is everything we do, and then we realize this changes all our daily actions. Having our ‘why’ centered on the person and work of Jesus Christ enables us to live in the peace and rest that He’s accomplished and freely given us — no matter how big or important of a task He’s given us to accomplish in our work, leadership, or family life.
Brantley: That foundation is important to be reminded of. That all our life belongs to Him and even our daily work is grounded in His truth. We can’t compartmentalize our work.
Howard: And, that’s not a to do list. It’s saying, “Oh, you’ve got me covered. You love me.” Then my life is a response in gratefulness, but also in purpose. To have a great purpose is there from the very beginning in Genesis. To put the earth under our dominion and His Lordship, to be fruitful and multiply — stuff we love to do. And, when you are doing it for Him, through Him, and in Him, you know you are doing the right thing. We are confident about all this on Sunday morning, but on Wednesday at 3:30 we tend to forget.
Brantley: I’m going to put you on the spot. Has there been a time in your life where you had those things separate? And, what was a time when they were in alignment?
Howard: Of course, all the time. The more I know this, the more I need to know this. I make up enemies I don’t have. So at work this can look like creating and executing meetings in such a way that it safeguards against those enemies. When really, I don’t have an enemy against flesh and blood. We have spiritual enemies, but we separate it. I think God will heal the person in the hospital I’m praying for, but I think I’ve got my own thing at work that I can control will various policies I can implement on my own.
Brantley: It’s helpful for me to hear that because I think all of us have tension points where we are misaligned. The tension can sometimes feel overwhelming, and at times I struggle with that myself. And, it’s all from God — including our daily work. Therefore, there is so much freedom in surrendering our work to Him.
Howard: Lord, you’ve got it; so what does it look like for me to be faithful? I’ve got to know why I’m here and choose values that are both uniquely mine and totally aligned with His word.
Visions And Dreams
Brantley: Exactly, so what we want to cover today are our visions and dreams because our visions and dreams can help with that alignment. So which is it? Is it dreams, vision, or both?
Howard: I’m going to go a step further. When we are aligned with God, not only can we dream dreams and see visions, but we can also prophesy. Peter, on the day of pentecost when so many people were coming to faith, they were dreaming dreams and having visions. Skeptics and critics thought they were drunk, but it says that in the last days God says, “I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your young ones and daughters will prophesy. Young men will have visions, and old men will dream dreams… I will pour out my spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” There are big prophecies, but when your dreams and visions are aligned with God’s will, you are prophesying. You can speak truth to your child and everyone else because of the great truth He has laid out. So yes, dreams and visions are synonymous.
Brantley: It’s almost weird to think that dreams, visions, and prophecies are in some way one and the same.
Howard: Yes, and in a business sense people like Henry Ford and Elon Musk have had great visions, and are good examples. And, visions have two main components. It’s a goal we have that is impacted by a burden we have. God gives us burdens, perhaps to fix a relationship, and we then build a vision for what that could be. Your vision does not have to be like Henry Ford’s or Elon Musk’s — to provide cars and space travel. But we need to have a sense for what could be, what should be, and filling out with detail what that can look like with our values as a person, leader, family, organization, etc.
Brantley: It’s really great to read other people’s vision statements. You were talking about how we are compelled to have a vision, but what is a vision? How do you define it?
Howard: A vision is a picture of the future with detail that accomplishes something by solving a burden.
Brantley: What interests me is the word ‘detail’. In the examples you gave of Ford and Musk, their visions are not ambiguous. They are very specific. The specificity of their vision draws people in to believe in it.
Howard: That’s right , and Andy Stanly’s book called Visioneering is incredibly helpful, and these are some of his insights. It’s a vision of the future that’s compelling to help a burden in the present that is worth acting on. There are 4 big components to that, but first you need to know that you are not supposed to act on every vision you have. Some need to be acted on immediately — such as helping someone cross the street. Other visions take much more time to implement and come to fruition. Visions have a problem, solution, a knowledge of what must be done, a time to act, and a reason to act now. Over time, our visions move to now.
Brantley: There’s a lot of pressure placed on visions. Whether it’s the right vision, how we are working on them together, etc. Even for The Center, when we were creating a vision it took weeks of discussion and prayer. Is it the right vision? How do we work that out and meditate on it? How do we align that with the Lord in such a way that it is worth leading others with.
Howard: God gave me this vision for The Center about 7-8 years ago. One of the inputs to that was Christopher Wright at a conference at Second Presbyterian. He showed that all of life is God’s and our workplace lives have just as much worship as our Sunday lives. This struck me because he put his finger on the problem I was experiencing and was burdened by. So I started to test that vision, and I realized every work moment was God’s. This brought a lot of peace and joy to my life and I want others to experience the same thing.
Brantley: I do think that the next piece is this; what does God’s word specifically say about vision?
Test Your Vision
Howard: Here are some points that are generally true from the Bible about vision. Over and over, people have dreams and visions. You see Paul having a vision to get to Rome. His vision was validated.
Brantley: The reason I asked the question in that way is because if we are testing our vision, it’s important that we are testing it with God’s word. Are there more examples of the current vision for where you are at to make sure you are aligned?
Howard: God gives us so many encouraging stories that help us align our visions with His. Joseph is a great example. He wanted people to look at his coat and told his brothers they would bow down to him. Maybe he could have communicated his vision in a better way, but he was fired up that he was special and he knew it. So Joseph's brothers threw him in a ditch and instead of leaving him to die they sold him. He does the right thing — he doesn’t sleep with his boss’ wife — and he gets thrown in prison. Then in prison he gets to test his gifts. That same gift that caused his brothers to throw him in a ditch was used by God to make him a ruler of Egypt. His bothers came to him in fear and Joseph saved them instead of smiting them. Joseph's story shows how just because you experience failure and pain does not mean the vision is not true. Sometimes, we even throw ourselves into our own ditch, but none of that can thwart the purpose of God in our lives.
Brantley: For those who feel restless and do not have a clear and detailed vision, hopefully this has provided a little bit of insight into how to test it with God’s word and will.
Howard: Paul says to test and approve in little ways what God’s will is.
Brantley: We can test it because we have the ultimate vision for our lives and all of history.
Howard: Yes, our ultimate vision is this: that one day, at the end of days, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord of all. There will be no more tears for the living God will wipe away every tear. We will enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise because His Son stood as a sacrifice on our behalf. Therefore, we can go and have visions of how to live today because we are secure.
Resources