God's Vision Comes with His Provision

Even with the routine tasks of daily life, like laundry, chores, or simply getting dinner on the table at a decent time, I love having a target and hitting it! Without a clear deadline or task list, I’m proof of Proverbs 29:18:

Where there is no vision, the people perish.

Vision in Hebrew means divine revelation. Our English word refers to an image or concept of a future event or development. Either way, vision requires belief and dedication against all odds. It serves to guide our choices and is the motivation we need to make hard decisions. Without it, we will cast off restraints as a person or people with no direction and nothing to follow.God’s greatest revelation of His vision is His word, and it applies universally to all His children. He also has a specific plan or vision for each of us: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV). These plans were determined before the foundation of the world, and what He plans, He accomplishes.Look at Ephesians 1:4-5:

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will (Ephesians 1:4-5).

Take a moment to soak that up.He chose us to be holy and blameless before him!He predestined us for adoption, and it’s all according to the good pleasure of His will! Then Philippians 2:13 tells us God “works in (us) both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”Put these two scriptures together, and you have Vision Provision!

He will accomplish according to the good pleasure of His will

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He will work in us to will and do for His good pleasure

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VISION PROVISION

I want to focus on what is likely a very familiar story to discover eight truths about the character of God and His Vision Provision, which is actually the content of my original vision banquet speech (see By the Skin of the Last Minute). In God’s goodness, the shell of what I prepared remained the same, and in the next several weeks, I’ll share both with you: the biblical evidence of these eight characteristics of God as revealed through the story of the Exodus and my personal testimony as God has demonstrated these same attributes in my own life to produce what I call “Now Faith,” an acronym to help us remember these qualities and the response He desires from us.The N stands for notable.God is notable.In  Exodus 3:2-4, “The Angel of the Lord appeared to (Moses) in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”God has a vision for Moses, and He makes sure Moses doesn’t miss Him. Moses notices the burning bush and wants to know more.  In the same way, God will get our attention in such a significant way that we notice Him and want to know more.When Moses approaches the bush, God tells him exactly what He’s going to do, explaining, “I have come down to deliver (the Israelites) out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8-10).God imparts His vision!He might not speak to us from a literal burning bush, but we can trust Him to get our attention and tell us what He’s going to do in His timing and as He determines our need for further instruction.Thirteen years ago, our pastor at the time invited James and I to share our testimony of God’s faithfulness when we obeyed His word to get out of debt and start tithing (see Mighty Dollar vs. Mighty God). After the service, a woman squeezed my arm as she remarked, “You should really do more public speaking.”I responded politely, “Ahhhh, thanks.”She held on! “Really, I mean it. You should do more public speaking,” she stressed.As I thanked her again, it was if God held my elbow and spoke, “This is Me, Shauna. You need to pay attention.”It was Him being notable.Over the years, He has given me several more what I call shutter views as reminders. Like a camera, He’ll open the shutter just long enough to snap the picture, and then it’s merely an image burned in my spirit. A reminder that when He has a vision for us, He gets our attention.He is notable.Perhaps you’ve had a notable encounter with God but can’t see how He’s going to fulfill His vision for you. Will you join me again Thursday for more of "Now Faith"?Lord, thank You that You have a plan for each of us, and You will accomplish Your will according to Your good pleasure. Without Your vision, we perish. We trust You implicitly for Your Vision Provision in our lives as we become more wholly Yours today.To read the entire "Now Faith" series, see:

God Is Our Overcomer

God Is Wise and We Are Not

God Is Faithful and Able, Even When We Are Not

NOW Faith for a New Year