Tuesday’s Column: Dale Mail
Vision: The ability to think about or plan for the future with imagination and wisdom.
In the book of Revelation we read of seven churches that needed to develop different areas of weakness in order to be the church Christ needed them to be.
The Old Testament is also filled with valuable information and strategies to help congregations develop and execute their visions. Each church family will differ and since that’s the case, each congregation needs custom vision.
Here are two Old Testament passages that give us some insight into the mind of God on the subject of vision planning.
- A Good Vision Is Visible
Habakkuk 2:2-3
Though Habakkuk’s message was concerning the the conquest of Babylon, this text is invaluable for us today.
Here we read God’s strategy for successful/effective planning.
“Write down the revelation
It should be tangible
“and make it plain on tablets”
It should be precise
“so that a herald may run with it.”
It should be effective. A vision without legs won’t go far.
“For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
it speaks of the end
and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
it will certainly come
and will not delay.”
A vision should be lasting. When God spoke to the prophets they would often record things that would happen years in the future. With these future events written down, the following generations could plan accordingly. God is coming back and eternity is coming, we must create a plan so that we and those after us can continue to prepare.
- If It’s Not His, It’s Hopeless
Jeremiah 23.16
“This is what the Lord Almighty says:
God must have a voice
“Do not listen to what the prophets are prophesying to you;
The ungodly shouldn’t have a voice when it comes to planning a vision for God’s people
they fill you with false hopes.
They speak visions from their own minds,
not from the mouth of the Lord.”
God must have a voice because the vision shouldn’t be born from the mind of man!
The Preacher Pollard Blog 
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