“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?” – Oswald Chambers

Proverbs 29:18 states that “where there is no vision, the people cast off restraint.” I am a fan of big visions. I firmly believe that lives and organizations are better when driven by an inspiring vision.

What I did not understand was the intended meaning of “the people cast off restraint” when there is no vision. I was reading “My Utmost For His Highest” by Oswald Chambers recently and Chambers had an excellent devotion about this topic.

Chambers states that where there is vision there is a life of honesty and integrity because the vision gives the moral incentive. That opened my eyes to this concept and I was immediately flooded with real-world examples of how this works.

If I have a vision of a long and healthy life, I am more likely to eat well and exercise. Because I am looking forward to a long and healthy life, I have the incentive to get out of bed and exercise when I am tired. I am more likely to take the time to fix a salad when I would rather eat from the drive-through.

What about marriage? I have a vision of Jill and me at a ripe old age, sitting in rocking chairs, holding hands, looking out over a lake, and being visited by lots of grandchildren. That vision helps me restrain from doing stupid things (most of the time) and encourages me to invest in our relationship so we can realize that vision.

What about our children? Jill and I need a vision of how we hope they will turn out so we can make better decisions on how we raise them. If we have a vision of strong relationships with our children when they are grown, we must invest in building those relationships now. It is becoming obvious that our children are forced to hang out with us for only a short period of time. How can we ensure they want to hang out with us when they no longer have to? The future vision will drive our daily actions.

The same holds true in business. If an organization has a destination it wants to reach, the team will make much better decisions because they want to get to that place. Distractions can be ignored when you know they do not get you closer to where you are trying to go.

“If you are working on something exciting, that you really care about, you don’t have to be, pushed. The vision pulls you.” – Steve Jobs

Back in 1990, Wal-Mart was a $32 billion company. They created a vision to be a $125 billion company by the year 2000. That vision kept the organization focused as Sam Walton took a lesser role. Sam died in 1992 and Wal-Mart hit $125 billion two years early.

Vision works. It does keep people focused. It does keep people from “casting off restraint.”

What’s your vision? Does your vision exceed your grasp?

“Dream no small dreams for they have no power to move the hearts of men.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

If you haven’t ever read “My Utmost For His Highest” by Oswald Chambers, I highly recommend you do. I recently discovered that you can go to www.utmost.org to read each day’s devotion. I put a shortcut on my phone’s home page so I can be challenged and encouraged by Oswald any time I have a few extra minutes.

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