"Where there is no vision, the people perish." Proverbs 29:18a KJV
The King James Version is possibly the only translation that translates it this way, but I strongly believe there is a lot of truth in this phrase. For the past week and a half, I've had almost no focus, no vision for anything beyond getting the next immediate task done that I had to do. After finishing a task, I would fall into wasting my time in front of a screen, be it a TV or a computer, being very efficiently unproductive. I would subsequently feel worse off and try to numb it with more of the same uselessness.
As a result, both my academics and my walk with God have suffered as of late, causing a nasty, self-perpetuating cycle. Although now I understand why this proverb is so true. Where there is no vision, there exists no purpose; where there is no purpose, hope is not to be found. But why?
"Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."¹ When my focus, my vision, my purpose, my hope is so wrapped up in the short term, it passes away with the moment is was invested in. With no hope, there is no purpose to drive my actions. Without purpose, there is no vision for how to fulfill that purpose and obtain that which is hoped for. Without vision, there can exists no focus to accomplish the finite elements of the vision.
So what now? I need to lift my eyes back up to my final goal, to the crown that will last forever,² to Him who is my hope, and will ever be the source thereof. But how do I balance that with all the urgent tasks and commitments I have that demand my attention and energies this instant? I'm still trying to figure it out, and you'll need to figure out what this means for your own life.
(Though I would not be opposed to talking about it with you.)¹Romans 8:24b-25 NIV
²1 Corinthians 9:25 NIV
Chatboard (27)