Proverbs 29:18 – Where there is no vision, the people perish…
Vision. It’s the ability to imagine what might be possible and allows us to take steps towards pursuing those possibilities. Without vision we find ourselves stuck in the realm of our limited experience. That’s why teachers stress the importance of reading fiction. Fiction stimulates one’s imagination and causes us to grow that part of our brain capacity. Movies can’t do it to the same extent because they’re visual and require little imaginative power on the part of the consumer. Vision brought forth by one’s imagination allows the individual to conceive of new and wonderful possibilities that they may never have experienced.
So I want to cast you a vision. I want to invite you to remember the most thrilling, enjoyable experiences you’ve ever had in your life. One of mine would be sky diving – falling through a blue sky with the air blasting full in my face and sun burning on my back out above the clouds. It was like a dream – over so quickly – with heart pounding and wonder filling me at what had just happened. Bring your own thrilling, joy-filled memories to the forefront of your mind. Write them down if that helps. Did you know research has found that remembering an event has almost as powerful effect on your body, emotions and mind as living that event in real life?
Now this is the vision I want to cast. We often sing a song in the House of Prayer with a bridge that goes, “My God, my joy and my delight.” That’s not just a nice song to sing. That’s not just a nice group of lyrics that evokes a good sing along on a Sunday morning. That’s a real, tangible possibility of experience. There’s a realm of experience with God where He becomes the most thrilling, enjoyable, fun-filled thing in life. There’s a realm of experience with God where engaging with Him is as thrilling an experience as sky diving or doing whatever you’ve written on your list. And this experience is not for the spiritually elite or the spiritually mature. It’s not an experience reserved for a few. It’s the experience God wants to give all His children.
Sometimes it seems like many feel they have to attain to the maturity or “specialness” of a David in the Bible before they can really experience God enough to sing truthfully, “My God, my joy and my delight.” But that’s just not the case. Have you ever conceived of this as a possibility? Have you ever seen it as a vision for your life? Weak, broken, sinful people (of which I am the chief) can really experience the thrill of knowing, encountering, speaking to, hearing and journeying with the uncreated God who is the very definition of beauty itself!
J. Ratcliffe
Chasing the Beautiful God 
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