Archive for June 1, 2011
Having the eye of faith
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” Hebrews 11:1
[One of the most important qualities of a leader is being able to visualize the future. In Christian terminology, I call it the eye of faith. In secular or religiously-neutral language, I call it “visualization power,” the ability to see what can be as opposed to what is. If you can see barely in front of you, how can you lead others to the promise land? Below is an excerpt from a sermon I preached during the occasion of a youth day. I hope the language is accessible to everyone whether you go to church regularly or you’ve never set foot in one. Be blessed!]
Visualization starts with dreaming. But many people don’t know how to dream. For some it is because others have told them that they are good for nothing, that they will never get a good job or they will never find a good person to marry. When you have God, though, you have to learn to shake negative things off. When I was young, kids said very mean things to me. Fortunately, I learned to shake it off. They could only see my present whereas I could see my future. Don’t let other people stop you from dreaming.
One of the main qualities of a leader or a high achiever is that he or she has a good ability to see beyond what things are now to what they could be in the future. In business schools, they might call this quality “having vision” or “being a visionary.” In fact, I believe that what distinguishes many successful people from others is that they have dared to have bigger dreams! Joshua was a visionary. When he went to Canaan as a spy, 10 of the other spies saw the giant soldiers who they thought could not be defeated, Joshua on the other hand saw the beautiful land that God was going to give them as a country. David did not focus on Goliath, instead he saw the easy victory that God was about to give through Him. While his servant was focused on the army around them, Elijah instead could see thousands of angels protecting them. When you have vision, you’re not limited by your present conditions because you know with God, things can become better.
What I call vision for the Christian is simply the eye of faith. Hebrews 11:1 says that “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (NIV)
The Bible tells us that God says that he will be with us with whatever we undertake, whatever we initiate, whatever enterprise we embark on, wherever we go. That is a license to dream. Because of God’s promise, if I want something and I have asked Him for, I can already see myself having it. Someone said that if you’re going to dream, dream big. I encourage you today to dream big.
AyiPreneur 