Over the years I have come to the same place far too many times, confronting the same question again and again… Where Am I Going? And in the process I struggled with Solomon’s warning:
Prov 29:18 Where there is no vision, the people perish…
I came before the Lord on many occasions asking Him to show me, to give me my vision. How was I to know His perfect will for my life if I didn’t have a vision? I needed clear direction for the road ahead. But every time I waited for the answer it never came, and every time I would retreat into my mind and attempt to discover my vision. I knew that my vision and the perfect will of God had to be connected but they both continued to elude me. And the more this happened the more frustrated I became. I would first try this, and then that, and then a modified this, and then a new that…
But over the past few years God has been leading me to the answer He had already given me in His Word, an answer that I had failed to grasp. But He didn’t give it to me all at once. He slowly revealed it through my study and writing as part of the calling He has given me. So when I finally saw the answer I was at once surprised, but at the same time confounded in its simplicity and why I had not seen it before. But because He has called me to teach His Word, it was important for me to fully understand all that the answer entailed as that answer and all that it opens up has been woven into all of my writing. In fact, as I look back over what He has given me to share over the years, the answer was clearly visible everywhere.
But, the critical thing I realized is that the answer He gave me to my question is the very same answer He has given to you if you will ask Him.
The vision for all mankind is singular and does not vary, and in that vision is everything we need to keep from perishing. Everyone who has ever lived or will ever live on this planet is given the same vision… We are to use this life to prepare to meet God.
Why… because everyone of us will. Skipping judgment is not an option!
So, if we will prepare ourselves to meet Him we won’t perish… yet if we fail we will most certainly will. And the key is to make that first step in preparing to meet God by accepting the sacrifice that Jesus made for all mankind when He died on the Cross in our place. Only by accepting Jesus as Lord and Saviour will we be in a position to accomplish God’s perfect will for our life. That first step results in our being “Justified” in God’s eyes; we are accounted righteous in His eyes (saved) by our faith and His grace. That is the required first step in realizing our vision, but it’s not the last step.
We are to walk out our vision in the same faith we exercised in being saved. This is the process of our living out our Sanctification. Paul summed it up by quoting Habakkuk in his letter to the Romans.
Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
We can live the life of “righteousness” because Jesus has given us His righteousness (right standing with God). That is what our Sanctification is all about… living out a righteous life. And we can only succeed if we live out our life in faith in Jesus and His promises. Understanding that is what brought me to the answer to second part of my question… What is God’s perfect will for my life?
Well, you won’t be surprised that His perfect will for my life is the very same one He has for you!
I have written a lot about God’s will for us but I never truly grasped it until He put it in context with His vision for us. The goal within our vision of preparing to meet Him is clearly stated in His Word; His perfect will for us:
Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
2 Cor 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Peter 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
God’s vision and perfect will for all mankind is startling in it’s simplicity and staggering in its consequences. Every human that has lived or ever will live here on earth will one day meet God in judgment. For those who fail to take the first step and give their heart to Jesus, they will find themselves not Justified in His eyes on the day they stand before His Great White Throne. Their life will be judged and found unrighteous. Their entire life lived without God will be followed by an eternity without God.
As Christians we fully understand that as it has been clearly spelled out in the Gospel. But it doesn’t free us from God’s judgment. We will all stand before Jesus at His Judgment Seat and account for what we have done in this life with what He gave us and called us to do. Reward or loss will be ours as a direct result of how we have lived our life from the moment we were justified until we stand face-to-face with our Lord.
Yes, God has given us a vision. We are living a probationary life down here on earth, preparing ourselves to meet Him. And His perfect will for our life is that we live it in conformance to the image of His Son. Our salvation comes from God’s righteousness and is based upon Justification, built up in Sanctification, crowned in Glorification, and received at every point by faith.
The simplicity of His answers to both of my questions gave me great pause to consider why I had struggled for so long. I had struggled for years to find my vision and God’s will for my life in my own power and strength. I had not truly sought the answers from the Holy Spirit, and so God in His faithfulness continued to lead me until I reached the point at which it all became clear. The point at which He wants every member of the bride of Christ to reach; the point of freedom in this life to become everything He has created, called, and equipped us to be.
Our vision is to prepare to meet God, and it’s His perfect will that we meet Him in the image (the character) of His Son; our bridegroom. And with our vision in hand we need not fear perishing, instead we need to be preoccupied with discovering and becoming all that He created us to be. It’s His perfect will that we accomplish our goal and He has empowered us with His Holy Spirit to help us not only to press toward the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus… He has promised us that “we will” receive that prize; He has already given it to us… our Glorification.
Where are we going? We are headed to meet God. If you have not taken that first step, the failure to do so has dire eternal consequences. If you have, then your goal is clear. The question at hand is… will you be prepared?
Understanding your vision and purpose is critical to your walk with the Lord, and to help you along the way I want you to have a free copy of my new book Your Life In Christ. If you don’t already have copy you can download it for free. Please feel free to pass this link along to others as this book and the others in the series are at the heart of the message Jesus has given me for His bride. I trust the book will be an encouragement to you to let the Holy Spirit reveal more of Jesus to you as He draws you ever closer. Both the Wake Up and Rest series and The Way of Enoch series are dedicated to God’s vision and perfect will for our life.