Wait for the Vision
Habbakuk 2:2-4
I. Introduction
-Franklin Field "Poor eyes limit your sight; poor vision limits your deeds."
-E. Paul Hovey "A blind man's world is bound by the limits of his touch; an ignorant man's world by the limits of his knowledge; a great man's world by the limits of his vision."
-Dictionary defines vision as...
1. The faculty of sight.
2. Something that is, or has been seen.
3. Discerning perception.
-Vision has to do more w/ seeing things from a spiritual angle.
1. Not about business acumen.
2. Not about sense of style.
3. Rather a sense for the Spirit.
-Can you perceive the movement of the Spirit in the most dire of situations?
-Habbakuk 1
1. The prophet's complaint...
2. God's response...
3. Spiritual intimacy of this conversation.
-Ill. "Can't see the forest for the trees."
-Ill. Chess game observer
-Habakkuk witnessed the collapse of the kingdom, rise of Babylon, reign of injustice/wickedness.
II. Scripture
III. God does have a purpose...
-He does want to use you.
-He does want to work in your situation/circumstance.
-He does want to sinners to come to repentance.
-He does want to move among us!
-God wants to work!
-God has a plan/a will/ an agenda!
-God has a plan that is unfolding.
1. From Genesis to Revelation.
2. From your conception to your last breath.
-Psalm 139:13-17 "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. [14] I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. [15] My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. [16] Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them. [17] How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"
-Romans 8:28 "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."
-Proverbs 29:18a "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
IV. Do you Have Vision?
-I'm not asking if you can see.
-I'm asking if you have begun to see things as God sees things.
-I'm not gauging your spiritual maturity.
1. I'm not asking if you are more spiritual than others here.
2. I'm not asking if you are hyper spiritual.
-False distinction of super-Christians and ordinary Christians.
-What I'm talking about is something for the normal Christian.
V. Why No Vision?
-Some are not looking for it...
-We simply do not want to see things from God's perspective.
-Some are not looking in the right direction...
-Ill. Farming w/ grandpa Henry
1. Difficulty of making straight rows on the tractor.
2. Look behind? No.
3. Look to the side? No.
4. Fix your eyes on the destination.
-Luke 9:62 "Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."
-We're looking to our job, our possessions, HollyWood, relationships, reputations, etc. to give us vision.
-It must be Christ centered.
-Query: Ask yourself if Christ is honored in these areas of your life...
1. Job... if not... quit it.
2. Possessions... if not get rid of them.
3. HollyWood/entertainment
4. Relationships... if not dissolve them.
5. Reputation... if not, then reject it.
6. Credit card statement... do the purchases glorify God?
7. Etc...
-Note: We often see things the way we want to see them.
-We have vision, but will not act on it.
-Ill. Rosebud going to the carrier to see the vet.
1. As soon as she sees the cat carrier she panics.
2. Even though it is what is best for her!
3. Did you get in a fight w/ a barb wire fence?
VI. The Vision
-Try this on...
-...a life in which God is working.
1. Growing closer to him everyday.
2. Becoming more like him.
3. Learning to delight in him more.
4. Trusting him more.
5. Committing all your ways to him.
-...a place where God is working.
1. The lost are being born-again.
2. People are being delivered from their sin (forgiven & delivered= salvation)
3. People are finding victory over despair, depression, addictions, attitudes, etc. in Christ Jesus!
4. Believers are being baptized in the Spirit.
5. Christians are being equipped by the Spirit!
6. People of God are going out of this place in power! (Spiritual weakness comes from sinfulness.) 7. Spirit-filled Christians are growing & maturing.
8. People are seeking God, crying out to God, and waiting on God.
-...a people in whom God is working.
1. What does it mean to be Christian?
2. What does it look like in your life?
-So much hypocrisy breeds more hypocrisy.
1. It also breeds a skepticism of what God is able to do in people.
2. Don't allow the sinfulness of other professing Christians to deter you from victory in your life!
3. Don't allow the hypocrisy of others to cause you to forfeit what you seek for in Christ!
VII. Conclusion
-I'm not talking about imagination.
1. You cannot imagine what you cannot conceive of.
2. You can only have a vision for that.
-I'm not asking you to be creative, I'm asking you to step into the holiness of God and catch His vision.
-I may not have been helpful this morning.
1. I haven't told you the ‘how-to'
2. I can tell you how to pray, how to witness, how to get to church, how to read your Bible...
-I cannot tell you how to receive a vision from God.
-Few ppl receive a vision from God.
-Around steps = no one else
-Around altar = others to pray with you.
-Only God can give you what I am talking about.
Response
