VATIC Expressions
Truth, Transparency, Transformation
The Distance Between Sight & Vision (and How to Close the Gap)
by David Eagles
Vision is not simply a byproduct of sight, meaning that just because you can see doesn't mean that you can see (stay with me, please). Perspective is often skewered by perception; how we see can be directly related to what we see or have seen. To that end, visionaries should be applauded for their ability to look beyond what they've seen and been taught, things they've been overly saturated with, to fix their focus on making their contribution to the bigger picture. Now this ability isn't unique because only a few can do it, but it's unique because only a few choose to do it.
Visionaries are consumed with purpose, and while there have been those who have been gifted to develop and impart to society without their contribution directly aimed at advancing the Kingdom of God, we must understand that true vision lies within Christ for that purpose: the advancing of His Kingdom. So, again, just because you have eyes doesn't mean that you can see; or that you've chosen to. One of the main reasons we stumble at this point is that we allow ourselves to become too consumed with the moment; we become slaves to circumstance by allowing what we're looking at, or what's looking at us, to dictate our response and demeanor and ultimately cause us to not look at what we know, but focus on what we feel.
One of the primary reasons scripture tells us to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor.5:7) is that God is concerned with our ability to maintain vision (Rom.1:17), knowing that without it, the people perish (Pro.29:18). But here's what the enemy knows, as well: we won't focus on purpose when pain is in our view. Disappointment. Discouragement. Desperation. Defeat. The person who's seen abuse growing up may not see the same as the person who hasn't. The impoverished not as the privileged. The sick not as the healthy. Vision is compromised when we walk by sight; the eye of fear can't see what the eye of faith can because fear is the filter, or the lens, through which life is being viewed. I can't see what you see when how I see is tainted by what I've seen.
God would desire that we stop allowing situations to become conditions; that we refuse to allow the enemy to induce a climate based on a scenario. Snapshots are NOT the entire picture, but when we're stuck on what's in front of us, we take our eyes off what's supposed to be happening with us, through us, and around us. David, Elisha, Joshua and others all chose to operate with vision and focus on purpose when presented with odds and obstacles that seemed insurmountable; they chose to focus on God and not on feelings.
While we want to understand that others may not see like us because of what they've seen, we also want to understand that vision is a choice that is available to each of us who also choose to believe. What the enemy desired to paralyze you, God purposed to promote you; the outcome you walk in is dependent upon how you choose to look at what's in front of you-- how you choose to see.
God bless.
© 2017 David Eagles