Your God-Given Vision — Harold Vaughan

Vision as a God-Given Life Mission

Want to speak to you? I felt impressed to speak to you this morning on the subject of vision. And when I speak of vision, I'm talking about your life mission your purpose in life. And Joseph is an excellent case study when it comes to the subject of vision.

Take your Bible and turn to Genesis chapter 37. It's here. We find that Joseph was an exceptional young man. He had a mission from God and so do you. He had a calling from God and so do you. He was tempted and tried and you will be too from ages 18 to 30.

Very little went right for Joseph from a human perspective. But boy, did he ever come through with flying colors. Genesis chapter 37 and verse 3. Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children. Because he was the son of his old age and he made him a coat of many colors and when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren they hated him and could not speak peaceably unto him and Joseph dreamed a dream and he told it his brethren and they hated him yet the more and he said unto them hear you I I pray you this dream.

Which I have dreamed for behold. We were binding sheaves in the field and lo my sheaf arose and also stood upright and behold your she your. Your sheaves stood round about and made obeisance to my sheaves and his brethren said unto him Shall thou indeed reign over us or shall thou indeed have dominion over us.

And they hated him yet the more. For his dream and for his words. And he dreamed yet another dream and told it his brethren and said behold I have dreamed a dream more and behold the Sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.

And he told it to his father and to his brethren and his father rebuked him and said unto him What is this dream that thou has dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves?

To the. To the earth. And his brethren envied him, but his father observed the same. Now Joseph had a God-given dream. This was not a daydream. This was not a wishful desire. This was not a night dream a product of his subconscious or a figment of his imagination.

But Joseph had a God-given dream and it foretold of his future and it gave him purpose. At the outset Joseph was given a glimpse of his destiny. And I think that we can learn a lot about the power of vision.

Vision Is God-Given

From the life of Joseph now. Let me give you three things this morning about vision from the life of Joseph. Number one vision is God-given. Vision is God-given. Sight is a function of the eyes. But vision is a function of the heart.

Sight is a vision a function of the eyes. But vision is a function of the heart. Now God gave Joseph a vision. His father's and brother's sheaves were bowing down before his sheath. His brothers despised him.

His father Rebuked him and Joseph's vision came in the form of things. He was familiar with yet. It was a very strange dream. I mean sheaves doing obeisance to his sheath. This is a strange dream. Anyway, you want to look at it now you might not Totally understand your vision because Joseph blabbed his vision to his father and his brothers.

He had no idea of what he was going to be going through. He had no idea of how God was going to bring the details to pass, but he spoke what he had seen. He verbalized his dream. When God called Moses to deliver his people remember what he did.

He went out and killed an Egyptian. He had no conception of the means to deliver Israel. So he went out in his own strength and slew one Egyptian. He didn't have the entire plan. Now I want to say that Moses may not have done the right thing.

But he did something and God directed him the rest of the way. He was moving in accordance with the mission that he had gotten from God. And then the Lord directed Moses to the backside of the desert for 40 years to learn the ways of God.

Let me say that other people might not appreciate and understand your vision. Joseph's brothers they were incensed when they heard about. They're being subject to their brother and they said behold the dreamer cometh.

His father was upset at him. I want to tell you that Moses didn't comprehend What was happening in total and the people that he was going to deliver didn't understand either. The very day after he had murdered that Egyptian.

He saw two Hebrews fighting and he went out and tried to break up the fight and they said to him Are you going to kill us like you killed the Egyptian people may not understand and appreciate your vision.

The Lord Jesus Christ came to his own but his own received him not. Jesus was rejected by his own people. I want to say that the people who have impacted their world have declared independence from other people's Expectations and other people might not appreciate your vision, but understand that vision comes from God.

Vision is something that God births in your heart. And I believe that we need to identify our Motivated interest. You need to identify your motivated interest. What is it that interests you? What is it that captivates you?

What is it that you're passionate about? What keeps you awake at night? What is your dream? I'm wondering if you've ever had the experience of wanting something so badly you can just literally taste it.

I want to tell you my friend. That is the birth of God putting something in your heart. I believe that everybody today is looking for the will of God. Everywhere except in their own hearts. The Bible says delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.

I want to tell you that you can negotiate the will of God through sanctified desires. Delight yourself in the will of God and he will give you the desires of your heart when you are filled with the Holy Spirit and Emptied of sin and self.

I want to tell you you can discern the will of God through your desires. When you're under God's control you can negotiate the plan of God for your life through your desires to pay attention to your desires.

Let me say that vision is different from ambition because ambition typically benefits self, but vision always benefits other people and God-given vision always always benefits others. It's never self-promoting and always promotes other people now.

Practical Definitions of Vision

Let me give you some practical definitions of vision. Some practical definitions of vision. I think that will help us maybe to capture the essence of what I'm trying to say. Number one vision is a bridge from the past to the future.

Vision is a bridge from the past to the future. Number two vision is the eye of faith. To see the invisible and the decisiveness to make it visible. I think that for far too long in conservative Christianity.

We are so afraid That we're going to presume on God for some definite blessing and here we are in a negative Defensive mode. I'm telling you my friend the time has come. For the old men to dream some dreams and the young men to see some visions.

Number three notice if you would. Vision is the power that causes people to make huge sacrifices in order to become all they can become for God. Number four what is vision. Vision is a clear mental image of a preferable future.

Imparted by God to his chosen servants and is based upon an accurate understanding of God of self and of circumstances. Number five vision is adopting an Action plan that will enable you to move forward in your Christian life and ministry.

How many people drift through life never have any conception of where they want to go much less a plan on how to get there? I was in Florida a couple of characters went out into the Gulf of Mexico and a John boat the motor conked out.

They had no radio. No telephone. They drifted for two weeks. One of the men died. The other one was in the hospital the pastor and I went to visit this man. His face was terribly burnt his lips were swollen.

He had just about dehydrated to death, but there they were drifting around. How many of God's people Drift around their entire earthly existence and never get a vision of why God put him here. Number six Vision is that inward fire which enables you to boldly communicate to your peers what the future will be like.

I want to tell you my friend that vision looks beyond what he is to what can be notice. Number seven vision is the dynamic that Enables you to translate your faith and dreams into a new and personal walk with God.

Number eight vision is that God-given energy which will make you become a risk taker. Vision is that God-given energy which will make you become a risk taker. Number nine vision is that moral? Obligation that mandates your behavior in accordance with God's will.

I want to say this that great gains. Come from taking some risk and you can play it safe and never do much. Your whole life or you can pursue with vigor your God-given dream. Joseph had a vision and it came from God.

My friend vision is God-given. But notice number two if you would that vision gets you through the fire. And we're all headed either into the fire coming out of the fire or we're in the fire right now.

Joseph’s Trials and the Fire of Adversity

That's just the way it is and vision will get you through the fire now. God had destined Joseph for a place of great influence great responsibility and great power. And you know few things will develop character as much as adversity.

Somebody said that most men are born crying. They live complaining and they die disappointed. Well surely we can hope for better than that. And I want to say that few things will develop character as much as adversity.

Joseph had to be put on the potter's wheel. There was a pressure from within there was a pressure without he was put into the furnace of afflictions. Now now notice Joseph's two fiery trials. First of all he had a fiery trial with his brothers.

With his brothers you know the story they had evil thoughts. They spoke evil words they committed evil acts. They plotted to kill him and Reuben Saved his life. He talked his brothers out of killing him.

They stripped him of that coat of many colors. They shoved him into a pit and they sold him into slavery. I want to tell you that Joseph went through the fire. He suffered great loss. He lost his freedom.

He lost his family. He lost his father, and he lost everything that he was familiar with. He also had a second trial. And that was with Potiphar's wife now. I want to say there's no question, but what.

Potiphar's wife was a very beautiful woman. I'm telling you the king got the best-looking women in the kingdom. She didn't need an extreme makeover. I'm just telling you that She was a good-looking person and the Bible tells us in chapter 39.

How did he had this fiery trial with Potiphar's wife the Bible tells us in chapter 39 in verse 7 that she came on to? Him and said come lie with me very very very very bold very very direct and the Bible tells us that Joseph No doubt was surprised when she came with this this advance come lie with me.

I want you to notice that he didn't initiate it. He was not the cause of it. He did nothing that contributed to this advance. This was an external attack. There was nothing in his heart longing for this encounter.

There's no doubt that he was shocked and stunned by this woman's forwardness, but notice number two. It was a sustained assault. It was a sustained assault and verse 10. It says that she came day by day.

It was repeated. It was continual. It was persistent. This was not a one-time attempt. She came at him continually day by day, but old Joseph said no the first time he said no the second time. He said no every time.

Remember how how Delilah wore Samson down by asking him the secret secret of his strength over and over again and Finally Samson capitulated he caved in and told her the secret of his strength. It was her constant nagging that broke him down and I want to tell you that Potiphar's wife came to Joseph day by day.

She was persistent and let me just say this we're living in a day my friend. With all of these chat rooms and all of this garbage. There's no reason for a child of God to ever communicate to anybody on the Internet of the opposite sex.

There is never a time and never a place for this kind of stuff. What in the world is going on? I want to think it was a continual assault, but we can live pure in an impure world. It was a surprise assault.

It was a sustained assault, but notice number three. It was a secluded assault because the Bible says in verse 11 that none of the men of the house were within. Joseph was left alone with Potiphar's wife.

He could have yielded it yielded and no human being would have known. He could have kept it a secret. The only eyes watching Joseph were the eyes of God. It was a secluded assault. But notice it was a subtle assault because in verse 10 the Bible says she spoke to him day by day.

She spoke to him. You see her approach was emotional as well as physical. She flattered him and attempted to charm him but Proverbs tells us that an adulterous woman's words are Smoother than oil and sweeter than honeycomb.

I want to tell you that Potiphar's wife was a strange woman and she attempted to lure him into immorality. You know the story how did he escape? Leaving his garment then she falsely accused him and part of her threw him in prison.

He was very angry. So here Joseph is his brothers had lied to their father. His master's wife had lied to her husband. But Joseph overcame the lies of his brothers and the lust of his master's wife. His brothers put him in a pit and his boss put him in a prison and there he said for 12 years.

But my friend Joseph went from the pit to the prison to the palace by the grace of God. And I want to say that vision imparts power purpose and perseverance. It will get you through the fire. You see it was his integrity and industry that caused him to be put in charge of the prison.

But it was his dream that sustained him. He knew that God had a purpose for him and he knew that the prison was not the last thing on God's calendar for him. It was his hope for a better day that kept him going.

And my friend adversity not only proves your faith. It improves your character. Andrew Bonner said this. We've gotten more from Paul's time in prison than we did from his trip to the third heaven. He couldn't even speak of those holy things that he had seen all but my friend when he was in prison.

We have this Word of God that God used him to write. You see it's your it's the time in the furnace of affliction. When you discover how much dross is in your Constitution, I mean, I'm a pretty good fellow as long as the sun shining.

But you let the clouds come and the storms come and the waves begin to beat and then we begin to see what's really in Our heart. I want to tell you that vision is that fire in your bones that conquers the fiery trials you experience on earth.

Thomas Brooks the old Puritan said a man full of hope will be full of action. A Man full of hope will be full of action. I want to tell you it's vision that keeps you going and my dear people. It's the fire in your heart that will get you through the hard times in life.

There were two twins. And they were opposites one was an optimist and one was a pessimist. So they took these twins to the psychiatrist to try to get a little diagnosis and the psychiatrist put him in different rooms.

He put the depressed boy in a room full of brand-new toys and he put the optimist optimistic boy in a room full of horse manure and The psychiatrist went back to see how the depressed boy was making out in that room full of brand-new toys and there he was depressed.

And weeping and crying and the psychiatrist said what in the world is wrong. He said I'm afraid I might break one of the toys and Then he went and found the optimist in the room full of horse manure and he found him.

Having the time of his life throwing the manure in the air digging around having a party and the psychiatrist said man How come you're having such a good time in here with all this manure and the boy said with all this manure around here.

There's got to be a pony around somewhere. I want to say something to you loud and clear. You cannot change your race. You can't change your gender. You can't change your upbringing. But you sure can change and choose to change your attitude and my friend.

It's the vision that's going to get you through the fire. I want to tell you when you have a goal it will help you to persevere. But let me give you a third thing about vision and that is vision will determine your destiny.

Vision Determines Destiny

Vision will determine your destiny. It was Joseph's vision that carried him through difficulties in life. Vision determines destiny. Look at this quote sad will be the day for any man when he becomes satisfied with the life he is living and the thoughts he is thinking and the deeds he is doing when there is not beating at the doors of his soul a Desire to do something greater which he knows he was meant to do because he is a child of God.

I Like that. I like that. I want to say something to you. I want to tell you that humility and meekness are biblical virtues, but I want to tell you there's a balance between meekness and God instilled initiative dreams and vision.

I want to tell you one of the sad things today is that we're so overreactive we tend to overreact and I want to say that overreaction is never corrective and Overreaction is always destructive. Because when you hop out of one extreme to another extreme you create more problems that didn't exist before.

Overreaction is not the answer. I've seen I think just about every imbalance that exists and a committed about half of them myself. My friend I want to tell you it's vision that will determine your destiny and where you are tomorrow.

Depends on what you dream about today, you know, you're dominating thoughts will determine your destiny. Helen Keller was blind in death. Somebody asked her one day when she had grown up if she could imagine anything worse than not having sight.

And Helen Keller's response was this she said yes, I can imagine something worse than not having sight and that's having sight but no vision. Having sight but no vision the Bible talks about people who have eyes.

But they cannot see or they have ears, but they cannot hear my friend. I hope that you're in a position to where you are hearing from God. I hope you're in a position where you're seeing things you've never seen before.

You know the more you go along in this thing, my friend. You can either get in a rut and coast on coast on to the finish line or brother. You can gain momentum gain speed and gain insight and understanding and get better as we go along.

God gave Joseph a vision of his ultimate destiny when he was young. I want to tell you that vision is when God shows you what the goal is and Then you can becoming what God says you already are. I've never given this message to adults and I don't know why.

God impressed on my heart to give it to you here this morning but I believe We need to learn to walk on the edge of our God-given potential and I want to give you some practical corners. Practical corners.

I think that will help us in This matter of vision number one your vision determines your future. What you dream about today will determine where you are tomorrow. Your vision determines your future. You will never gain momentum.

Moving toward tomorrow if you're dragging your past behind you. I mean if you're bound to the past you're blind to the future and Vision sets you free from the regrets of yesterday. My friend the Bible says forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth to those things which are before.

You know what that word forget means neglecting those things which are behind. Every one of us here have made enough mess-ups and boo-boos and and mistakes and sins to Condemn the whole world but brother get all that mess under the blood and forget those things that are behind.

Neglect those things purposely choose to leave those things alone and to move forward to those things that are before. Don't let negative events Be the defining feature of your life in a catastrophic way.

I want to tell you that Joseph could have spent his entire life Focusing on the wrong that his brothers had done to him. He could have went around moaning and groaning and complaining being bitter about his past.

He could have opted out to be a career victim victim. He could have spent his whole time murmuring and by the way You know what murmuring is murmuring is complaining to people that don't have any power to do anything about it anyhow.

Vision Determines your future. Joseph went from the pit to the palace by the grace of God. Remember when his brothers came down to Egypt and they were full of guilt when they arrived there and Joseph when he revealed himself to his brothers He had a God focus.

He said you boys meant this thing for evil, but God meant it for good. I want to tell you that having a future look gives you victory over the past. And I want to tell you that God never consults your past to determine your future my friend.

Let me just tell you something. God has put his your past behind him. It's about time you put it behind you because you're never going to go forward in the future dragging all that mess behind you. You know what?

I think I make the conservative fundamental. Separated Christians need to get over the guilt of the past and get into the grace of God. We need to get off Sinai and get to Calvary brother. We need to enjoy because God has given us everything everything that pertains to life and godliness and he's given us all things Freely to enjoy.

I'm telling you some high time the people of God got excited about what God has done for them and start enjoying The Lord and never mind all the theological naysayers and the theological extremes that would rob the fire out of our heart brother.

We can believe God for a better day. Let me say that your vision will determine your associations. Your vision will determine your associations. If you've got a God-given vision, you won't let the people who are going nowhere take you along with them.

Because if you hang around people who are going nowhere, they always want you to go along. You need to let your destination determine your company. Can I say this you can outgrow your friends? You can outgrow your friends.

The Bible says that a companion of wise men will be wise but a companion of fools will be destroyed. You're born into the family. You're born into but you get to choose your friends. The law of association states that you're going to become like the people you hang around with.

Vision Shapes Associations and Use of Time

You see your vision determines your associations, but notice number three your vision will determine how you spend your time. There's 24 hours in every day and you're going to invest your time doing something and Your vision will determine what's in your library.

What's on the television screen? How long you sit in front of the computer? I'm telling you it's your vision. You see you can do something, but you can't do everything. You can try to be the jack-of-all-trades Master of none or you can be the jack-of-a-few-trades master of one and that's what Paul said this one thing I do.

That's why he was created. That's why he was here. He gave it everything that he had now. You've got to determine your purpose in life and dedicate yourself to it. A Spanish proverb says this he who looks he who does not look ahead remains behind.

Now, why are you here? Gentlemen, why are you here? Dear sister. Why did God put you on this planet? I'm telling you your vision will determine how you spend your time and we need to find out the purpose for which we were Created.

I hope that you've got something burning in your heart. I am sick and tired of this emasculated Wimped-out passive kind of Christianity they say well if you're really right with God that means that you're just a passive person and all your desires of subdued hogwash.

Hogwash. Here's an extreme we get over into passivity. We get over to sitting around we get over into fatalism and we adopt theological perspectives that will condone the lack of fruit and the lack of the power of God and we're blaming God for the mess where he and When we ought to be.

Confessing the sins of our own hearts most of the time. Oh My friend what about it? What about it? Let me just say this your vision will determine how you spend your time. Notice this one your vision will determine your duty.

Your vision will determine your duty. Vance Abner said the vision must be followed by the venture. The vision must be followed by the venture. It's not enough to stare up the steps we must step up the stairs.

Destiny requires diligence. Destiny requires diligence. You see my friend. It's not just an abracadabra and God's going to throw the whole thing out there. No, it's a it's a process. You when you get converted it's a crisis but brother the crisis has got to be followed by the price process or it will become an absence.

We've got to move on with God. What I what am I saying? I'm telling you to follow your dreams. Follow your dreams. Don't let the wet blanket brigade or the cold water committee put out the fire that's in your heart.

Fred you're obligated to fulfill the reason that God puts you on this planet. Just keep it simple. Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey. Can I give you permission to be happy?

You know, you know, it's almost to the point now where if anybody's really prospering in any area. Everybody's suspicious that they must be compromising somewhere. What in the world has happened to us?

I want to tell you that God is a supremely happy God and in his presence. There's fullness of joy. The 550 references to joy and rejoicing in the Word of God not enough the friend. I'm just telling you if you've got a God-given dream go for broke.

Go for it. Bob Hassel, I want to tell you what happened to this man. He's sold out to God. He put everything on the on the line and he's a he's a moderate. He's a nice guy. He's not a not a not a. He's not an evangelist.

He's a nice guy. I'm just telling you he's a nice guy and and. But I won't tell you what happened to him. He got stirred up out there in California and he came back home and got and got desperate and said God if you're not gonna Do it here do it put me somewhere where you're gonna do something real.

I don't want to. I just don't want to put in time and exist. I Hope you want to see something before you kick the bucket. I Hope you want to see something here and now thank God brother. I'm telling you it's going to be great on the other side.

But what about a little note of holy joy in the here and now? My friend we're so subdued with God's chosen God's frozen. I don't know what's wrong with us half the time write the vision and make it plain.

You know what? If I could said he really said write the vision document your vision create a plan. You know only one person in my entire life. I Went to a Franklin Day planner thing and he told me I ought to write down my life goals.

Family goals financial goals spiritual goals work, whatever and he's the only guy that ever told me how to do something like that. You know, you know back in the early 70s, here's my observation. We didn't know much but we had a lot of zeal and now what I'm finding today is my observation is I talk about this.

With my son often that we're people are well educated well thought-out tremendous analyzers. But precious little pioneering zeal left among people today. You see we the men have become feminized and the women have become masculinized if there's such a word.

We get this role reversal going on. We got people women going off to Combat in Iraq and the men staying home to take care of children. There's something wrong with this picture my friend according to the Word of God.

There's something wrong with this. Now we need a God-given vision now create a plan now. Look at this one right here a beehive the Harvard Business Review came up with this said everybody needs a beehive a Big hairy audacious goal.

I like to get around people that can think big. I like to get around somebody that's looking for something out of the ordinary. We're putting it for a purpose people. With all the socialism and humanism and and and government.

Dependency and we're in the world of the people that can believe God for things anymore. The pastors are politicized the churches are commercialized and the faith has become homogenized. There's something wrong with that.

What is your big hairy audacious goal? What is that one thing? I've been telling God I said Lord I'd rather see revival and die young than live old and never see the hand of God. You get in the middle of something where God's in town and it's exhausting.

But it's good. But it's hard on your heart. I Mean, there's a stress to the thing. But how much better to get in the middle of a move of God, man? And go out on a burst of glory than to sit around. The kindling kindling wood.

Oh, bro. What's your dream? I mean, what are you shooting for? What do you really want to see if it can only be one thing? What is it? What is your dream? Oh. Let me say there's nothing wrong with a little holy optimism.

Nothing wrong with a little holy aspiration. Nothing wrong for some men and women to have some initiative. Oh, I say it again. A Christian is not somebody who is passive and has all his desires subdued.

A Christian is somebody who's got that balance of meekness. But he's got a fire burning in his bones and he can't keep his mouth shut. Got to do it. All right, David Livingston said I'll go anywhere as long as it's forward.

Francis Bacon said a wise man will make more opportunities than he finds. I Have God instill vision. Listen to this. We see facts with our eyes. We see ideas with our minds. But we see ideals with our souls.

Whatever we see with our souls is real and permanent and cannot be destroyed. You know if you can see it in your heart and Believe in your heart. Jesus said if you can believe you're going to receive.

Don't dispensationalize all the all the meat out of that. All brother saving faith is one thing but living faith is another thing. We're going to move towards whatever we see in our minds and I want to tell you you've got to see it on the inside.

Before you'll ever see it on the outside. I'm just telling you. I think we ought to do some dreaming here this morning. We need some God-given visions. We need to elevate our sights because clearly seeing your vision means you're accelerating toward the goal.

By the way, they said as well we can't have revival anymore because the culture has changed and Because the times are changed and because these are the last days and cut them notes out of your Scofield Bible and burn them.

No such thing as a lay of the sea in church age. God didn't for ordain us to be a bunch of lay of the sea and deadbeats and calls them to be like they were. So he could prefigure us. Don't you blame God?

I Know there's some similarities there and and that's a good letoff. Is it not but I want to tell you that Samuel started the what was it? The grandfather of Jonathan Edwards and when everybody else was got gone off the deep end and fatalism.

He believed God and he saw five Holy Ghost revivals in his churches in his church in his lifetime. Seasons of blessing from when the hand of God moved in and I want to say this if the Spirit of God doesn't come in Revival periodically we'd all be out of business anyhow, and we've limited God with our unbelief.

I'm just telling you I think that we have gotten so into the cautious the analytical the theoretical and the critical and to the point where we have lost. The ability to believe God for more than what we can see.

I want to tell you that God calls everybody to four things. He calls to salvation. He calls to sanctification. He calls to suffering but he calls to service. Friend everyone is called to walk with God and work for God now.

Formulating a God-Given Vision

We're talking about our life mission from God and I want to help you. I want to help you think about and establish your vision. So I got a little exercise for you. I would encourage you to write down these four questions.

Write down these four questions. What goals would I set if I knew I could not fail? What goals would you set if you knew you could not fail? What would you try to do if you thought you might succeed? Can I encourage you to take a few divinely inspired risk.

David took a risk so to speak when he went against Goliath, but it was a calculated risk. It was not a foolhardy risk. He had already slain a lion and a bear and nobody else was willing to take on Goliath.