You need a God-given vision for your life. Without it, you'll always wander and flounder. Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."

When there is no clear-cut direction or goal for which to live, human beings feel purposeless. When that hopeless feeling seizes the heart, mind and emotions, it doesn't take long until man begins to slide into a pit of despair. It's just as the Bible says: "Where there is no vision, the people perish...."

What does the Bible mean when it says people "perish" if they have no vision? Several good translations of Proverbs 29:18 are as follows:

• "Where there is no vision, the people live purposeless, meaningless lives...."
• "Where there is no vision, the people have no sense of direction and lose their reason for living...."
• "Where there is no vision, people become lazy, dissatisfied, and sluggish...."
• "Where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint and become undisciplined and unproductive...."

People need a sense of direction. They need borders. They need guidelines.

And that includes me as well! I can personally testify that when I have no purpose, vision, or goal for my life, I sink to unbelievably low levels of inactivity and laziness. It's just a fact of life that I need something to shoot for and to keep me going.

God put it into the heart of man to take dominion (Gen. 1:26) and to achieve something great with his life. When man loses that purpose—that God-birthed spark in his heart to reach out for something great and significant—he becomes dysfunctional, lazy, lethargic, languid, and lackadaisical in his approach to life.

That's why a person needs a challenging goal to aim for with his life.

When that person has a vision before him, he has a goal to live for and an objective for which to shoot. This gives meaning to his existence; a purpose and plan designed specifically for his life.

It gives him a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to keep fighting against the odds he encounters along the way. A vision gives him inspiration and motivation to keep striving until he's reached what God put in his heart.

Maintaining a clear-cut, unambiguous, indisputable vision is vital for my life. It is like a trail I can follow. That trail may occasionally lead me through dense forests, dry places, and even occasional danger.

But I know that if I stay on track, the vision God placed in my heart will lead me to His destination for my life.

If I get off the track and try to take another route, it always gets me in trouble. The vision God gave me is like a rock I can lay hold of and hang on to. It is like a beacon that keeps me on track with my faith, my marriage, my family, my church, my ministry, my time, my energy, my money, and my efforts.

• When I have a vision, I live a full, meaningful, and rewarding life.
• When I have a vision, I live with a sense of direction and experience a reason for living.
• When I have a vision, I am disciplined, diligent, hard-working, and full of energy.
• When I have a vision, I feel fruitful, productive, and satisfied with my life.

What Is a Vision?
But let's step back for a moment, and ask, "What is a vision?" The word "vision" in Hebrew means, "to see." It is the idea of having a mental image so sharp and so clear that you are able to "picture" something in your mind.

This is not an abstract idea you can't latch on to; it's a concept so concrete that you can easily grab hold of it and say, "That's it! I see it! I know exactly what I'm supposed to be doing with my life!"

When God first called me to inundate the former Soviet Union with His Word by broadcasting it on television into as many homes and regions as possible, such a thought was the farthest thing from my imagination. It had never before even entered my mind!

But when God spoke to me, I was able to "see" what He was asking me to do. It wasn't just an abstruse fancy floating somewhere out in the spirit realm. It was a dream that took shape and materialized in my heart and mind.

I could literally "see" it in my mind. I could visualize precisely what God was calling me to do. It was direction so strong that I could stand on it and move with confidence as I began to fulfill it.

When I think of how God likes to plant His dreams and visions in our hearts, I am reminded of how He spoke to Abraham in Genesis 15. God drew Abraham's attention upward to the stars. And as Abraham visualized the countless stars in the sky overhead, God told him, "...So shall thy seed be" (v. 5).

God put an "image" in Abraham's mind he would never forget. Abraham saw a "vision" of what God wanted to do through him. That vision stayed with Abraham for the rest of his life. He was never able to forget or get away from what he had "pictured" that night when God first spoke to him.

That vision is what kept him going year after year, through thick and thin, through good times and bad, until it was finally fulfilled in his life.

Without a vision, we flounder and struggle with lethargy. With a vision, we flourish, we achieve success, and we fulfill our God-given purpose. Do you have a vision from God for your life? If not, pray and seek His vision...your life will be infinitely more satisfying and meaningful because of it.

Source: If You Were God by Rick Renner
Excerpt permission granted by Rick Renner Ministries