[RE-POST] October 16, 2012
DAILY DOSE OF HOPE – BLOG – NAIMA LETT
WHAT DO YOU SEE?

source ©marketinginprogress.com

What do you see?
What’s your dream? What’s your vision?
What insight has God given you?
How will you impact our world?

This week, we’ve been exploring life’s purpose, vision and planning.
First, we got Clear Why We’re Here.
Yesterday, we figured out how to Build Backwards.
Today, we ask “What Do You See?”

This question has to do with vision.

Brett Duncan from Marketing In Progress breaks down the difference between mission and vision statements (as seen in picture above). Brett says:
Mission = “Why are you here?” or “what is wrong with the world and how do you intend to fix it?”
Vision = “What will the world look like after you finish changing it?”

For as long as I can remember, I’ve had vision. I could see things afar off, believe that they could be achieved, and figure out how to get from Point A to B. Single-minded. Laser-focused.

I credit my parents for believing in the omnipotent, unlimited power of God and creating an environment for us growing up in which my brothers and I could dream and believe anything was possible – anything! My dad, as a teen, was the first to integrate the high school in his city. My mom, early 20s, integrated her nursing admin career. Those two blazed a whole lot of trails, so we never thought that “seeing” and “making things hap” were strange.

Imagine the true game-change that would occur if we raised a generation of young people who believe in the power of God and who believe through Him, anything is possible! “World peace” would not just be a tag line at beauty pageants. Cancer cures would actually get released and not buried by pharmaceutical giants who profit more off disease. And our economy could be revolutionized.

What if we see our lives like an NFL team strategizing to win the Super Bowl or an NBA team gunning for the Championship? (Side note: the Lakers are shaping up pretty good this year, Fam. Just saying.) Olympic champions visualize and “see” themselves on that podium with a medal thousands of times before they actually get there. Every Academy Award winner dreams and sees themselves winning before they ever walk down a red carpet in guy or girl Spanx®.

Whatever we see is usually where we end up.

Vision.
What do you see?

Imagine our own lives if we shifted to a place where we approached each day with vision and uber faith in God like, “I have nothing to lose! If I succeed, great! If I fail, great! I’ll learn something.”

Vision. What do we see?
God asks that question of some of His prophets, who, by the way, are called seers. And they see all kinds of things.

Jeremiah 1:11-16
Twice, God asks Jeremiah, “What do you see?”
Jeremiah first sees an almond tree branch which represents God watching over His word. Then Jeremiah sees a boiling pot which represents the disaster coming upon God’s people because they honor other gods and worship the creations of their own hands. Every time I read this passage, my heart breaks for my industry. We have a constant compulsion to worship what our hands make. Help us, Lord.

Amos 7:1-9
God asks Amos, “What do you see?” and shows him locusts, fire, plumb lines. What in the world is a plumb line? Glad you asked. I looked it up. It’s the line that a weight is hung from to determine if something is perfectly vertical. I imagine it functions similar to our modern level device that we use to straighten paintings and photos on the wall and make sure they are perfectly straight. So Amos says he sees the plumb line and God says He’s going to set a plumb line among His people. He’s calling them into account for their living.

Zechariah 4-5
Boy, did Zechariah see some stuff! Gold lampstands! Flying scrolls! A woman in a basket.
I love Zechariah’s response: “What is it?” he asks. “What are these?”
The angel’s response is hilarious to me: “Do you not know what these are?”
No! We don’t know what these are! Flying scrolls? What is this, man!
How Zechariah is supposed to get “Not by power, not by might, but by My Spirit” from two olive trees is beyond me, but we’ll go with the flow.

The point is that God gives His servants visions in order to help bring messages to His people.

I’d like to propose that our vision, your vision, when you really tie into your purpose and why God created you and put you on this earth at this time, is so much bigger than just you. Your vision, our vision, is meant to help others.

That’s why I identify with the picture above. Vision is what things will look like once we’ve figured out what need God wants to use us to meet on this side of heaven.

What need do you meet?
What problem are you uniquely built and gifted to solve?
Everything that has happened to you in your whole life has specifically qualified you to do something that nobody else can do quite like you can. What is that?

If you have some time, tinker with these questions.
If God asks you, “What do you see?”, what would you say?
What vision has He given you to help His world?

Upgrading to 5D, or is it 6D now?
Naima

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Clear Why You’re Here
Build Backwards

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