Life’s a journey. So now that life is back to normal and you can go anywhere you like on your journey, where are you going? Do you have a clear vision in your mind of what could be in the future, even though it’s not your reality today? People who end up somewhere worthwhile are people who have vision. They can see what could be, and what should be.  In this series, Nehemiah will show us how to predict your future. More importantly, he shows how you can get there.

Clear visions matter. A clear vision for your life will infuse it with passion, motivation, purpose and accomplishment. Vision is powerful because as humans, we crave clarity. In fact, if you don’t have clarity for your life, you’ll be easily swayed by people who do have clarity, even it they intend to use you for their own agenda. That’s why vision is critical for predicting your future. But gaining a clear vision is not often an easy or simple task. Many times, a clear vision is born out of frustration, heartache, discontent, or an overwhelming awareness that something in your life, or something in the world, just isn’t the way that it ought to be. And you won’t be bothered by what’s wrong with our world without a strong sense of personal values.  

Just because you have a passion doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s time to change the future. But it does mean that it’s time to start praying and planning. Nehemiah had a broken heart and a conviction that something must be done for the city of Jerusalem and for God’s glory, but he didn’t do anything until he had spent three months in prayer and planning, waiting for the right opportunity to move forward with his vision. Prayer helped him to recognize the small opening he had to move forward, and it gave him the boldness to take it. 

Nehemiah’s vision was so large, there was no way he could pursue it by himself. He needed an entire city to buy in to his vision of the future. What about your vision? Odds are, it’s not something you can complete by yourself. You might need just one other person to buy in. Maybe you need a thousand. Fortunately for us, Nehemiah put on a master class on how to cast a compelling vision, and how to rally hundreds of people around a common vision of the future.

Nehemiah faced opposition to his vision. Some opposition came from outside – from area warlords. Some opposition was internal – from his own people. Nehemiah recognized that the different forms of opposition were a direct threat to his vision. So what does Nehemiah do when his vision is threatened? Just two things: he prayed, and he took immediate action. He prayed as if it all depended on God. He took action as if it all depended on him. 

Great visions are born out of great values. This means that a value based vision isn’t really a value based vision until you’re willing to pay the price to pursue it. Nehemiah was slandered. He was misunderstood. His reputation was at risk. None of that mattered when compared to the vision he was pursuing. We’ve done a lot of work in this series about identifying and clarifying a vision for your life. Now it’s time to test it. Are you willing to pay the costs of pursuing a great vision?