You can’t die now, Papa; you haven’t finished the things that God has given you to do.
It was August of 2003 – seven weeks into an intensive daddy-please-don’t-die vigil. I was at home – perpetually horizontal – breathing like Darth Vader without his respirator. My daily exercise regimen consisted of taking shallow breaths, getting more jaundiced, taking more shallow breaths, and waiting. We couldn’t afford medical insurance, so we waited. Our wait lasted two months.
On week nine, with new insurance card in hand, I went to the cardiologist. Dr. Lee put me on a treadmill for a “quick test”. Three hours later, I woke up in a recovery room with the good doc showing me pictures of 95 percent blockage in my main artery – the one they call the “widow maker”. Next to it was an image of my renewed artery. The surgery to insert a stent had been successful.
Arielle and Alyssa, the apples of my eye, were 15 and 10 at the time. During our two-month trial, they had been little women with great big faith. My own hopes for the future were linked to theirs. We believed wholeheartedly that I was going to live through this physical trial. Why? Because God had revealed a vision for my life earlier in the year that didn’t include dying at age 46. When I received the vision, I wrote it down and shared it with my girls. It was clear, God-sized, compelling, motivational, and Kingdom-driven. In one of my weaker moments, the girls entered the room and told me, “You can’t die now, Papa; you haven’t finished the things that God has given you to do.” Their faith encouraged me and strengthened me. The vision had revealed that my life’s work had just begun. I needed to be around to see it through.
The Bible tells us that without vision, the people perish. The inverse of this is that vision is vital – it’s life-giving. My daughter’s hope and faith were directly related to our vision for the future. We believed God would sustain us, because the vision was His. Why would He give a vision if He wasn’t going to provide everything necessary to see it through to completion, including long life?
Over the coming weeks, we’ll take an in-depth look at vision – what it is and what it is not. My hope is that you will be encouraged and renewed, and that you will write God’s vision down so that it can give hope and faith to those God has placed on life’s journey with you.
- What Vision Is: Biblical
- What Vision Is: Mental Imagery
- What Vision Is: Clear
- What Vision Is: God’s Preferred Future
- What Vision Is: A Destination
- What Vision Is: God-sized
- What Vision Is: Kingdom-driven
- What Vision Is: Motivational
- What Vision Is: Compelling
- What Vision Is: A Dividing Line
- What Vision Is Not: Mission
- What Vision Is Not: Purpose
- What Vision Is Not: Core Values
- What Vision Is Not: Strengths
- What Vision Is Not: Circumstantial
