Winning the Personal Vision Battle (Part 1)
It is an actual battle, but you can win
I have been a Bible believing, Bible teaching Christian for over four decades…and I still regularly have to fight “the vision battle.”
What is the “vision battle”?
It’s the battle we all regularly face in seeing and believing that God has purposes (vision) for our lives AND that we can fulfill that vision.
The Bible clearly teaches that God has purposes and plans for every single person’s life. He set those purposes in place before He even created the world. (2 Timothy 1:9). This is one of the greatest benefits and blessings God gives us in Christ,
You are not a cosmic accident. God intentionally planned you and made you on purpose for purpose.
Your life matters. You are here for important reasons. You are called and gifted by God to make a significant difference in the world.
God’s Design
When God created Adam and Eve, he immediately gave them vision.
“God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the face of the earth.” Genesis 1:28, NASB
He didn’t just create them and leave them to figure it out. With their creation, He gave them a vision for why they were here and what they were called to do.
So, in a sense, we were all created by a God of vision and purpose for vision and purpose. It is hard-wired into all of us.
At some point, all humans ask the “why am I here? Who am I?” questions. God creates us for vision and purpose. That is why we seek those answers.
God creates all of us to be visionaries. Much research has shown that sight is by far our most dominant sense. We think, reason, and act based more on what we see than what we feel, smell, hear, or taste.
Inner Vision
Some say that we “see” more with our hearts than with our eyes.
Two people can visibly see the same thing, yet interpret it, respond to it in very different ways based on their inner vision.
The old story of two shoe salespeople still rings true.
One shoe salesperson reported back to his supervisor, “I can’t sell shoes here. No one wear shoes here.”
The other salesperson excitedly called his supervisor, “This is a great place to sell shoes. No one wears shoes yet!”
So much of how we respond depends on what we see in our hearts and minds.
Proverbs 29:18 (KJV) teaches, “Where there is no vision people perish.” Most newer versions say “Where there is no revelation people cast off restraint.” (NKJV, NASB, ESV).
Either way, both are teaching us the power of God-given revelation or vision to help us live abundant, focused lives.
Again, we are created to function, by God, based on a vision of what can be.
This is why there is such a battle to block us from receiving what God wants us to see.
If we don’t see it, we don’t know what to do, where to go, or how to respond to life’s challenges. We wander, we cast off restraint; we don’t focus our energy on what matters most.
The Vision Battle in the Life of Daniel
In Daniel 10, Daniel takes three weeks to fast, pray, and mourn. In verses 10–13, the angel Gabriel shows up and tells Daniel he was sent to Daniel the first day Daniel humbled himself to mourn and pray.
Gabriel then tells him that a spiritual force named “the King or Prince of Persia” blocked him from getting through. Michael the archangel came and helped him get to Daniel.
Why did this dark power block Gabriel?
Because of vision.
In Daniel 12:14, NASB, here is what Gabriel says to Daniel, “Now I have come to give you UNDERSTANDING of what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the VISION pertains to the days yet future.”
Vision is most often future oriented. It looks forward to what can be or will be.
The devil tried to block Daniel from getting the vision of what would happen in the future.
This is so important to understand.
God wanted Daniel to have understanding, a vision that he would pass on to us.
The devil tried to block from Daneil from receiving understanding and vision and he will try it with us as well.
The enemy knows we need vision in order to live and move forward. Without vision, we perish or we cast off restraint. We just wander in life, we exist, but we don’t really live.
We are created by God on purpose and for purpose. We are designed by God to have vision and to fulfill vision.
When vision is lost or reduced in our own souls, we do not function in the divine flow of God’s Spirit. When people don’t have a vision for what can be, they settle into existing instead of living.
Life becomes boring without a godly vision of what can be.
Vision and The Parable of the Sower
In Mark 4, Jesus gave the Parable of the Sower teaching.
He makes it clear that God’s word is the divine seed that will produce kingdom growth.
He also makes clear the devil’s primary goal is to steal or choke the word, the seed of God, from our hearts. He knows if the seed is stolen, there is no godly growth.
In tactic number 3, Jesus describes Satan’s attack this way. Mark 4:18–19, NASB “And others are sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word and it becomes unfruitful.”
If the enemy can’t steal the word or drive it out of our hearts (tactics 1 & 2), then he tries to choke it. Amazingly, it is possible for the living Word of Almighty God to be choked in our hearts so that is unfruitful.
How we respond matters.
One of the primary ways God communicates or gives vision to us is through His word. God’s word grows in us the foundation so we can receive the specific vision God has for us.
We can apply this to the word, or seed of the vision God wants us to have. And yes, Scripture is clear that God wants all of us to have vision based on His word,
The enemy will work to choke that vision by getting us to focus on the wrong things.
Jesus said “the worries of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things” ENTER IN and choke God’s word,” God’s vision in our hearts.
It’s like there is a regular break in attempt in our hearts. These vision and word stealing thieves consistently try to enter in to deceive us and discourage us.
If we focus on the wrong things rather than on what God says, godly promises and vision get choked.
On the other hand, if we intentionally focus on and guard that “vision seed” it will grow and produce 30, 60, 100 fold in our lives. (Mark 4:20, NASB)
The word of God, in good soil, we multiply in our hearts producing far greater growth and vision than when it was first planted.
Awareness is the First Step in Winning the Vision Battle
Even after all these years, I have times when I lose a vision battle. I let discouraging results or negative thoughts and emotions increase. I lose sight of what God is calling me to be and do.
It always results in passivity or doing things that matter little.
At some point, I recognize what is going on, repent, and seek God for either the renewal of the vision He has already given me or a fresh vision for a new stage of life.
When I embrace the vision He gives, I always get a refreshing wind of faith, hope, and energy to get up and get moving.
In part 2, I’ll share some of the most effective steps I’ve experienced in winning the vision battle.
It starts with being aware of the power of vision in our lives and that there is an actual war to block it, steal it, or choke it in our lives.
God is faithful. He never gives up on us.
So even if you’ve never had a clear picture of what God wants you to do or you once had it and gave up on it, your Heavenly Father is ready to fill you with fresh vision as you seek Him.
For more vision-building resources take a look at www.TruVineMission.com
