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Vision Perspective

Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil. Proverbs 4: 25-27 (NLT)

The feelings of frustration started cropping up about how things were being handled at my workplace. After being there a while, I knew the processes well. There were decisions made and actions taken that didn’t make sense to me regarding my job. The different departments I closely worked with were not prioritizing our shared work as they had in the past. I expressed my irritation to a coworker who agreed, but she also reminded me “not your vision”. Being caught up in the office activities and my irritation, I had forgotten that mantra. Losing sight momentarily of my vision had made me veer off the path.

Several months ago this type of frustration cropped up. I realized that I was working in someone else’s vision temporarily. Their choices made about their vision were for their vision. When I got bothered about the choices made, I had to let it go. The statement I came up with at that moment was “Not my vision”. Saying or thinking this to myself made it easy to get back on track, let things go, and move on.

This current frustration wasn’t different from before, I was just so caught up in it. What God eventually impressed on me was “do not build a brick house in a campground”. I pictured in my mind building such a substantial structure as a brick house in a campground that is usually a place for a brief visit. I had to laugh at myself because I was there for a season. The season may last longer than expected, but it is just that, a season. It occurred to me that I was beginning to take ownership and invest too much emotional energy into a vision that was not mine. I was to work for a season in someone else’s vision before moving fully into my own. There was more to learn before moving on confident that a person’s steps are directed by the Lord…(Proverbs 20:24). The workplace frustration and irritation minimized as I refocused on God and kept walking on the path of my vision.

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A Simple Shift

I recently had a conversation with a friend who was having marital issues with her husband. She had been praying for him to change his ways for a long time. I knew she was weary in this effort. Periodically she would call and complain about the things he had done and said to her. Each call the scenario would be the same but the date would change. Based on her account of the events happening, both her and her husband needed to make some changes. As I listened, she claimed she was just telling me the facts about the turn of events but in reality she was complaining. When I suggested she might need to change her thoughts about the situation and/or change her reaction to the situation, she was opposed to it.

It reminded me of the time I had my own marital issues and my own complaining to God. This was a high stress time since my husband and I both worked in real estate and the market was drying up. Our income was cut in half, we were both job searching and tension was at an all time high since our marriage had hit the rocks for the last and final time. He found a temporary job and I was still looking. My marriage was over and my husband (I will call him Denis) at the time would not move out of the house we shared. Through the breakdown of our marriage Denis decided the many months previously to give me the silent treatment. I refer to that time as the ‘year of silence’ one could accurately describe as a marital wilderness. In this marital wilderness my many conversations with God consisted of asking Him when Denis would leave, why is Denis still here and telling Him, I just want Denis to go. We resided in the same house living separate lives and there was no sign that this man would leave. Since I had focused the majority of my prayers and conversations with God on getting Denis to move out, the topic became an idol. Exodus 20:3 says “you shall have no other gods before Me”. My focus on what I wanted became first in my life. It did not occur to me that this was what I was doing at the time.

After about 10 months of the silent treatment and 7 months of prayer requests for Denis’ removal, I honestly didn’t care if he stayed or left. I was tired and rightfully so since I was taking the lead and not following God’s lead. I was working in my own strength. I was depleted, a shift had to happen. I had to change. I had to let go of it. In this ‘Lord i trust You’ moment I let go of the situation, the emotions, the complaining and the end result. Philippians 2: 1 says “Do everything without complaining and arguing”. My prayers at the time weren’t thanking God for working this situation out for my good (Romans 8:28), they were complaints of misery as to why things weren’t progressing at a more rapid pace.

My prayers and conversation with God shifted to asking Him what He wanted me to do instead of telling God what I wanted Him to do. As I would soon find out, God was working this entire situation out for my good. About a month later I started seeing paperwork lying around the house for jobs in other states and overseas. A couple of weeks after that, Denis announced he would be moving out of state in 30 days. Two weeks before Denis was to move out God supplied me with a great job that would cover my needs. Habakkuk 2:3 says “For the vision is yet for the appointed [future] time It hurries toward the goal [of fulfillment]; it will not fail. Even though it delays, wait for it, Because it will certainly come; it will not delay”. God’s timing is always perfect.

As the conversation wrapped up with my friend, she was less interested in her own change and more interested in her husbands change. I anticipated that a repeat of this phone call would happen again in the future. You cannot change other people, but you can change yourself. Change is a choice to either stay where you are or making the effort to move into a better position. Being in a better space and/or a better position is worth the effort. Be willing to change. The following steps facilitated my change into a better position: Step one eliminate the complaining, step two let God take the lead and step three trust God to work it out for your good.