“Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison.” (Judges 16:21)
Samson’s story is a long one of bad decisions. The bottom line, though, is that the enemy enslaved him and took his vision from him. Of course, Samson’s bad choices throughout his life made it easy for this to happen.
Once a leader loses their vision, their ability to see the future, they become ineffective. For the leader, vision is the bridge from our organization’s present to its future. When the leader loses that ability to see further down the road, to see the big picture, to see possibilities, the organization stops moving forward.
Once we lose our vision of the future, the only place for us to go is backwards. We will end up returning to our past. This is why the enemy attacks us in this area so strongly.
We are constantly bombarded by visual images that are designed to take away our spiritual vision. Pornography, some movies and television shows, and so much more can destroy our spiritual vision and leave us in bondage. Samson was incredibly gifted yet he continually allowed his eyes to focus on sexual pleasures. At the end of his life, we see him blinded, in chains, and serving his enemy.
Paul prayed for the Christians in Ephesus, “I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19) May this prayer be ours and may we guard our vision so that we can see all the incredible things that God wants to do in and through us!
How do you guard your spiritual vision?
Annie and I are serving the Lord in the United States, Africa, India, and in South America. We are training leaders and helping build great local churches. We would love to have you on our team! Just click here to get involved. Thanks so much!
