On occasion, I have noticed my vision becoming blurry. A visit to my optometrist usually results in a new prescription, new glasses, and sharper vision. Is the fix that easy for corporations and ministries? Sometimes…if we understand how critical that vision is.

One of the great books on leadership is the one written by Henry and Richard Blackaby, Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda. This classic, written some twenty-five years ago, has powerful principles and ideas that disrupt our thinking of leadership and vision. For instance, listen to this point from the book:

“Jesus did not develop a plan, nor did he cast a vision. He sought his Father’s will.”

So, if we are to pattern our lives after Jesus and we seek to be a leader who makes a difference in God’s kingdom work, what do we do with vision?

In secular leadership, the pattern is to look for a niche that is not being filled and design a strategy to fill that void. In many ministries and churches, a leader assigns a committee to develop a vision statement for the organization. Often, they never consider what God’s vision is and how they might fulfill His will and His plan.

Leadership expert John Maxwell recognizes that our vision isn’t created within us or as a reaction to activities and events.

“All visions begin with relationships. My relationship with God is where I receive the vision; my relationship with my people is where I give the vision.”

Maxwell is saying that vision starts with God and His plan. The leader’s job is to reveal that vision to the team and to reflect God’s vision through the ministry they serve.

Yes, the Bible tells us, “Where there is no vision, the people perish….” But it is not just any vision. It is not just the leader’s best thinking. The New Living Translation of that verse makes it much clearer:

When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild…

Proverbs 29:18 NLT

It’s clear, God isn’t looking for leaders to come up with their best ideas and their perceived vision. God knows His plan and He knows what is best. The Lord desires to reveal His vision if we will seek Him and His ways.

Blackaby sums up his teaching in a way that should be a clear and exciting revelation for those of us seeking to be effective spiritual leaders.

“If Christians around the world were to suddenly renounce their personal agendas, their life goals and their aspirations, and begin responding in radical obedience to everything God showed them, the world would be turned upside down. How do we know? Because that’s what first century Christians did, and the world is still talking about it.”

So, is your vision becoming clearer? Even Jesus had to set aside His own will and be subservient to His Father’s plan. “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Luke 22:42 NLT).

We should do no less.

God’s best,