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How often as a minister I have seen people fall on their face at an altar of prayer and make a commitment to God. The beauty of salvation is a thing to behold. I have watched the faces of men and women, boy’s and girls as their countenance changed when they gave their lives to Jesus Christ. They became a new creature before our very eyes.  

It is exciting as a minister to watch these new converts step out for God and catch a vision. They will witness to people in a way that would put most of us to shame. Christians who have been saved for a long time seem to have become saved and satisfied. Oh! I have been so thrilled by those who have been saved under our ministry and have went on to become Sunday School Teachers, Youth Leaders, Choir Directors, Gospel Singers and Preachers of the Gospel. Ministers of the gospel thrive on souls coming to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. That’s what this gospel is all about. 

What about the ones that come to the altar of prayer and start out doing all the things that I mentioned and then one day they are “missing in action”. In thinking of these people I am reminded of a story I once read:  

About 350 years ago a shipload of travelers landed on the northeast coast of America. The first year they established a town site. The next year they elected a town government. The third year the town government planned to build a road five miles westward into the wilderness. In the fourth year the people tried to impeach their town government because they thought it was a waste of public funds to build a road five miles westward into a wilderness. Who needed to go there anyway? Here were people who had the vision to sail three thousand miles across an ocean and overcome great hardships to get there. But in just a few years they were not able to see even five miles out of town. Friends, they had lost their “Pioneering Vision”. With a clear vision of what we can become in Christ, no ocean of difficulty is too great. Without it we rarely move beyond our current boundaries.  

Proverbs 29:18 – Where there is no vision the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.  

I am convinced that many of these that start out on a pilgrimage for God are sincere and they run the race well for a while but somehow they allow their “Pioneering Vision” to be lost.  

Thinking along these lines I couldn’t help but ponder on some of the things that make people backslide and turn aside from all that God has for them.  

1. The cares of the world choke some of them as they give in to the things the world has to offer. They get caught up once again doing what looks good and feels good and the vision for God is lost.  

2. They fall prey to the Lust of the Eye, The Lust of the Flesh and the Pride of Life.  

3. They start the journey excited but quickly lose the vision. They have no stickability. They quickly lose sight of the goal line.  

Optimist or Pessimist? I read about a schoolboy who brought home his report card. It was heavy with poor grades. “What have you to say about this? asked his father. “One thing for sure,” the boy replied, “Dad you can be proud. You know I haven’t been cheating”. Friend, having a vision is more than just looking on the bright side. It is looking on God’s side. Finding the vision God has for us takes time and prayer. What if the vision God gives is not the vision we would have chosen? Then I say to you “Bloom Where You Are Planted”. 

Strange but true: Both the hummingbird and the vulture fly over the same desert. All vultures see is rotting meat, because that is what they look for. They thrive on that diet. But hummingbirds ignore the smelly flesh of dead animals. Instead they look for the colorful blossoms of desert plants. The vulture live on what was. They live in the past. But hummingbirds live on what is. They seek new life. Each bird finds what it is looking for. We all do.  

Faith is the food that visions live on. Without faith, our vision will wither on the vine. When it comes to putting a vision into action...it involves other people.  

The courage of the vision is to say “Lord if that is you, let me come to you walking on the water”. The courage of the vision is to say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”. The courage of the vision if to say “The trials of this life are not worthy to be compared with the glory of the next life”.

I believe the Lord has a vision for each of us today. Sometimes we get inpatient with the waiting and if we are not careful, we will lose our pioneering vision. It is easy to get discouraged and to give up on being available to God, to be used to see the vision come to completion. If we are not moving in that direction, we cannot be content in this life. Let me also say that all Biblical leaders have not been faithful to God in the vision He gave and their followers have suffered the consequences.  

Proverbs 29:18 - If the vision is lacking God’s people will perish. Maybe it’s time for many of us to “bloom where we are planted” instead of looking for greener pastures.  

Jesus told Peter in John 16:16,17 if you love me feed my sheep. Some run the race well for a short time but it is he who endures to the end of the race that wins the prize.  

“Bloom Where You Are Planted” 

Copyright 2002 by Betty Lester