A case for vision…
Proverbs 29:18 KJV — without vision, a people will perish…
On September 12, 1962, jfk declared that America must put a man on the moon. Even though the speech resonated widely and is still remembered (and referenced by many movies today), at the time there was disquiet about the cost and value of the Moon-landing effort. Kennedy’s goal was realized posthumously. But the rest is history.
With what JFK did, he had set an impossible goal that caught the imagination of everyone: Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, black, yellow or white alike living in the US. This will not change the fact that they have issues however he has created a way to energize the people with such energy that is able to generate a force that pulls them together much more than what divides them. A covalent bond.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, a well known man of vision says “Try to achieve the impossible and direct your people to ways of achieving it.”
So that helps us start to understand vision…as we pull actions from these remarkable men above together….
What is Vision
Vision is a seemly “impossible” or “unrealistic” goal, set by an inspiring figure or a leader that followers or anyone can all believe in such that the pursuit and the rewards of fulfilling that goal creates a force of hope that is stronger than the forces that attempt to divide them on the basis of religion, race or relevance.
So how do you describe the situation where your nation remains stagnant for generations? It is simply that your leaders have NO VISION. Sadly because the people do not even know what vision is, they often continue to fall for short-lived trial and error policies that is unable to move the needle while dividing forces such as tribal sentiments, religious sentiments creates insecurity, destruction and and joblessness that plunders the nation.
Faith & Vision
In Christian faith, the vision of a heaven made of streets of gold and many mansions, a location that may sound like an expression or a figure of speech at this point however, it denotes a place or a state of mind that far rivals anything you could enjoy in this world. This will naturally unite all poor and provoke the thoughts of the rich. It creates a uniting force even if all you are interested in as a rich man is to satisfy your curiosity.
Vision is the force of Good
The only evidence you have found vision is for the rewards of running that race to become capable of making a better person out of you.
Without a force of hope, becoming a better person or nation in a system with so much corruption will be a struggle. Whether Steve Jobs was a religious man or not is not relevant again at this point, he built an impossible device: The iPhone and created a world nearly impossible to imagine by another from his time. That vision was capable of bringing the best out of him and people around.
Poor Nations Need Vision
If your nation is falling apart, it is time to elect men with vision.
Why Africa lacks visionary leaders is simply because the emerging leaders in Africa capitalize on using what divides us as a strategy for winning. When you plan on a regional sentiment to win presidency, your nation can never be united and by this nothing will ever work. Even the progress that seem like progress will be reversed by the opposing force of division. Our true leaders must crack the code of what unites us beyond borders.
What can Africa do?
1. No matter the race or religion or relevance in society, there has to be something that awes everyone alike in sports, science, technology, industry, culture, etc.
2. A leader must locate this central theme of what everyone loves.
3. They set highly targeted and specific goal that is modulated by that theme but impossible to accomplish by a single tribe and possibly stretches beyond the lifetime of such leader. This is why the bible says “write the vision on a plain system, so that as the time comes, those on ground may continue to run with it”
Understanding that your plan or the goal will outlive you and may not immediately enrich you is what separates vision from a 4–4 years political campaign promise or lies.
In Summary…
JFK vision for moon has now been long realized and now leaders are building and creating hope from getting humans on Mars. That is the type of impossible goal required to unite humanity or a nation.
Most developed worlds have found the secret: to unite your people and to lead, you need to look to the heavens, the stars and then re-organize your educational system to drive that star level goal into the hearts of your children.
Virtually every nation that wants to grow fast has a strategic space or rocket science based vision.
God even told Abraham to look to the stars…because preaching the gospel of being a blessing to nations to him will be futile without his ability to see vision beyond his days.
Pray for vision and pray for visionary leaders for Nigeria and Africa.
Envision…
