4 Things that Will Happen When God Is Giving You a Vision for Your Future

In this article, I’m not using the word “vision” in the supernatural way or the prophetic way. While I believe that throughout history God has given people visions as recorded in the Bible, in this article I’m simply using the word “vision” to mean “a specific goal or outcome God wants you to pursue for the future that is not yet fully realized in your present.”

Perhaps God is giving you a vision for a future where you go back to school and start a new career. Or perhaps God gives you a vision where you can see yourself trying online dating and meeting your future husband or wife. Or perhaps God is giving you a picture in your mind of a ministry he wants you to start one day. These types of things in life always start with an idea, a dream, a hope. When God wants something for us in the future, he often puts a vision in our minds for this outcome in the present so we know what to work towards.

So here are 4 things God often does when he is giving you a vision for the future that he wants you to seek after with him.

1. When God Wants You to Pursue a Specific Vision for Your Life, He Will Give You an Unshakeable Desire to Work Towards That Goal No Matter How Many Setbacks Occur

God won’t just magically give you what he’s giving you a vision for. When someone finally reaches a goal in life they’ve always wanted, it always comes after lots of personal sacrifice and hard work. But does this mean that the person and not God deserves the credit?

No, because if it is a godly vision from the Lord, the Lord will help you bring it to fruition not by just giving it to you but rather by giving you a supernatural amount of energy to take the necessary steps to achieve this goal. There are so many failures and setbacks that will try to block someone from accomplishing their goals that they will need an act of God to keep finding the energy to get back up again and again no matter what happens.

We can see this principle in the words of Paul. In Philippians 3:1-11, Paul describes the goal he had to gain Christ no matter the cost, to share in the sufferings of Jesus, and to obtain the resurrection from the dead. But then in the following Bible verses of Philippians 3:12-15, Paul added:

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way . . .”

When God is giving you a vision, he will also provide you with the supernatural determination to work towards that vision.

2. When God Is Giving You a Vision for the Future He Wants for You, He Will Open the Doors that Are Outside of Your Control

To balance out the last point, while we will certainly need an abundance of energy from the Holy Spirit to actually do the work necessary to make this dream a reality, we must also submit to the truth that there will also be certain doors in life that we cannot open no matter how hard we work.

For example, while we have some control over how willing we are to do and not do things, we do not have any control over other people’s willingness to help us. Nothing meaningful in life can ever be accomplished by just one person. There will always be mentors along the way, supporters helping out when they can, and people who are receptive to the ideas we are presenting.

Because of this, we must submit to the reality that God will have to open certain doors for us along the way if he is truly leading us towards a certain vision for the future. If those needed doors are opening, this is a sign God is showing you this vision really is from him. As Paul said in Colossians 4:3-5:

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.  Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.”

Paul knew we all have to be wise in how we live, but we also need God to open those doors only he can open.

3. God Will Show You How to Apply Specific Bible Verses to Your Life as a Way of Building Towards a Specific Future He Is Calling You to Pursue

While the Holy Spirit certainly speaks to us personally, we must remember that the Holy Spirit has already spoken to us personally through his written Scriptures as well. The Bible was inspired by the Holy Spirit in every way. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit speaks to us personally, he will confirm what he has said to us through what he has already for sure said to us in writing in the Bible.

We will know what paths to take that lead us towards the vision God has for us by applying his word to our lives, for as Psalm 119:105 states, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

4. When God Is Giving You a Vision for the Future He Wants for You, He Will Help You Know What Sacrifices You Need to Make and Then He Will Help You Make Them

While it can be exciting to think about what God has planned for us in the future, we must also be sober minded so we can also prepare for the sacrifices which will be needed to receive what God wants to give us. Everything truly good in life always requires a sacrifice to receive.

We are not earning God’s gifts through these sacrifices, for everything good is by God’s grace; rather, God is preparing us for what he wants to give us in the future through the sacrifices he will require us to make in the present. Tomorrow’s freedom always starts with today’s surrender. If you want God to fill your hands with blessings tomorrow, you must learn to open your hands in submission today. Notice the link between sacrifice and discovering the will of God for your life that Paul mentions in Romans 12:1-2. It states:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

May the Lord give you the supernatural strength and courage to follow him towards the visions he gives you in life.