Vision is the ability to see clearly. When I was in elementary school I began to find it difficult to see the blackboard from my desk. I improvised by boring a hole in my eraser and focusing through it. Eventually I discovered that I was short-sighted and needed glasses. It is one thing to be physically short-sighted and another thing to be spiritually short-sighted. Yet that is the condition of all human beings. All of us are sinners, and our sin blinds us from seeing God.

People are described in the Bible as being in darkness and needing the light of revelation. When Christ came, his presence was described as the dawning of a new day, the breaking in of the light of God. "The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned." (Matt.4:16)

Apart from Christ, or in rejection of him, the eyes of our hearts are closed or we are in the darkness of sin and ignorance and despair. "You will be every seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes... But blessed are your eyes because they see..." (Matt.13:15,16)

"For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." (Rom 1:21)

C.S. Lewis in The Last Battle describes a group of dwarves, who have gone through the door into the next world, but they cannot see the beautiful world of heaven all around them. Instead they think they are in a pitch-black, poky, smelly little hole of a stable. They are blind because they see only the pitch darkness. Beautiful flowers to them are filthy stable-litter and thistles. It is a black hole only in their imagination. Aslan, the Christ-figure, gives them a banquet to enjoy but they cannot taste it properly, and think that they are eating and drinking offal. Aslan says, "You see. They will not let us help them. They have chosen cunning instead of belief. Their prison is only in their own minds, yet they are in that prison, and so afraid of being taken in that they cannot be taken out." The world is filled with spiritual dwarves who cannot see the kingdom of heaven. They are imprisoned in their own darkness, the limits of their own minds. They are so afraid of being taken in by the promises of the gospel, that they cannot be taken out of their own unbelief.

After Jesus healed a blind man who was thrown out of the Temple by the religious leaders of his day, he said, "I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind." Some Pharisees overheard him and said, "Does that mean you're calling us blind?" Jesus said, "If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you're accountable for every fault and failure." (John 9:39-41 The Message)

In order for us sinners to see, we must receive the light of Christ. His coming is described in terms of enlightenment. "In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it...The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world." (John 1:4,5,9)

Those who receive Christ into their lives find their eyes enlightened and made able to see the truth. St. Paul was commissioned by the Lord Jesus to be a servant and witness of what he has seen of him and what he will be shown. "I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light..." (Acts 26:18) Those who became believers and followers of Christ were called "enlightened" who have "received the light." (Heb.6:4; 10:32) Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)

Paul is praying that the eyes of their hearts may be further enlightened, flooded with light, that their eyes may be focused and clear, i.e. that their hearts, the center of their personality, may have a clear vision of their future.

We need to pray that we will have a clear vision of our future in Christ. We need to pray for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that we may be intelligent and discerning, so that we can see exactly what he is calling us to do. We need to pray for continued enlightenment, continued knowledge of God's will for our lives, for his guidance and direction. When we do, vision becomes actuality, dreams can come true. This is the message of Christianity: "God is light; in him is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." (1 John 1:5-7, NIV) "If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth - we're not living what we claim." (The Message)

Prayer leads to enlightenment. Prayer opens up for us the possibilities of faith. Prayer enables us to follow Christ and to have the light of life. If you pray for the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, if you pray that your heart may be enlightened, you will receive the vision you need. The only obstacle to attaining the vision you need is lack of desire, and lack of humility. No person will be disappointed who wants to see what God is calling them to do, who wants to grasp the immensity of the glorious way of life he has for them in Christ, and is willing to make it a matter of daily prayer - to keep asking and not stopping. Every time I pray for such enlightenment, I receive it. God has opened up new doors, he has filled my mind with new possibilities, he has thrilled me with new knowledge, he has brought into my life new opportunities and greater challenges. You cannot pray for vision and stay the same. You cannot receive a vision and not be changed by it.

"The proof that we have the vision is that we are reaching out for more than we have grasped. It is a bad thing to be satisfied spiritually. Our reach must exceed our grasp.... The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be.... If you have ever had the vision of God, you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never let you." (Oswald Chambers)

What is God's vision for your life? Are you blind to God's possibilities? What do you need to see clearly? What is God calling you to do? What is the future Christ has called you to share? No matter how short or how long your earthly life is, God can reveal it to you. Are you walking in the light? Pray that the eyes of your heart will be further enlightened?

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