Create a Vision for Your Marriage
“And it will come about after this that i will pour out my spirit on all mankind; and your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.”. - Joel 2:28 (NASB)
Do you have a vision for your marriage? Perhaps the first question should be: Do you know what a vision is?
Vision can be thought of in many ways. Vision can be described as foresight, and the significance of possessing a keen awareness of current circumstances and possibilities, and the value of learning from the past.
Vision can also be described as seeing the invisible and making it visible. It is having a picture held in your mind of the way things could or should be in the days ahead.
Vision is also a portrait of conditions that don’t yet exist. It is being able to focus more on the future than getting bogged down with the past or present. Vision is the process of creating a better future with God’s empowerment and direction.
The following are some other thoughts describing what vision means:
Vision is the dominant force that controls your life and influences the choices you make as a person and as a couple.
It is what your thoughts lean toward when you are not focused on something else.
Vision can direct the kind of relationships and friendships you form. It is also what you pray about as you seek God’s will.
Vision is specific, detailed, customized, distinctive, and sometimes time related and measurable. In marriage, vision is a way of describing its activity and development.
The vision you have for your marriage may be uniquely different from another person’s. Having a vision for your marriage is having a realistic dream for what you, your spouse and your marriage can become when directed by God.
We need to seek what God wants for us and our marriages because without His wisdom what we achieve may be out of His will. We need His wisdom because “The Lord knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile” (Ps. 94:11).
Dr. Charles Stanley talks about vision for the Christian life:
The Lord often shows us a general picture of what we are to do—and that broad overview tends to intimidate us and scare us.
We need to realize that the Lord doesn’t leave us with a giant goal or a great plan—He provides direction for all of the small steps that are necessary for getting to the big goal.
Ask the Lord to show you the first step that you need toward the goal. Recognize that it will be only a step. Be patient with yourself and with God’s working in you.
Do what He shows you to do with all your strength, might, and talent. And then look for the second step that He leads you to take.
The Lord doesn’t catapult us into greatness: He grows us into spiritual maturity.
He stretches us slowly so that we don’t break.
He expands our vision slowly so that we can take in all of the details of what He desires to accomplish.
He causes us to grow slowly so that we stay balanced.
The unfolding of God’s plan for our lives is a process for the rest of your life.
This wisdom applies to marriage as well. Talk about the vision you will develop for your marriage.
H. Norman Wright
H. Norman Wright is a licensed Family Counselor and child therapist and has taught in the Grad. Department of Biola University. He is the author of more than seventy books
