Vision Test 2021

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For many of us, the end of the year is an assessment time. We look back on the year and judge how we spent our time and energy. Some of us judge the results against others, past years, or our to-do list, but this year I want to do differently. I don’t want to focus on the results. I want to focus on the root. It’s time for a vision test.

 

 

What I See Clearly

The point of this vision test is to diagnosis where we may be blind and where we may have blinded ourselves. Note I said “our.” This is not from me to you. This is from God to us so please know it cuts me too.

 

 

So many of us look at our lives and decide what we want to change. We have grand dreams and vision boards about the life we want to live and create all these plans to do life differently next year. I’m not asking you to do that.

 

What if all your plans, goals, and resolution to-do list is a waste of time?

What if it’s just busy work?

 

We adjust so many things that have nothing to do with the root of the issue. What is the real reason you’re in the place you’re in and are you ready to address that?

 

We all want to look forward, but some of us need to look back. Neither success nor stagnation happens overnight. There were a series of events and conscious choices that produced unconscious habits. Sometimes working more, planning more, committing to more isn’t the solution. You can’t force yourself to be productive if you haven’t faced the root of your inefficiency. You can’t hustle your way into healing. You’ve got to be delivered.

 

 

Last year my vision test had a list of questions but as far as I’m concerned, only two questions matter:

 

• How is your life ordered?

• What are you willing to do to change your life?

 

 

Addressing the answers to these two questions will change your life. But for some of us, the answers to these questions can be deceiving, and it may take some digging to uncover the answer we’re truly living out.

 

 

Determining Order

Have you contaminated your life with so many things trying to get close to answers because you never learned to get close to God? Now I’m not coming for you but I want you to take a moment to think.  What do you do to try to find answers?

Let’s go deeper. Would you need horoscopes or astrology if you felt like God would answer you? Would you talk to your ancestors if you felt like God would respond? Would you hustle and chase money if you felt like God would provide? Would you need to meditate if you felt like God could give you peace of mind? Would you see medical treatment as your only option if you knew God would heal you? Some of these things aren’t bad in their own right, but they are detrimental when they become your go-to move. Think. Even if I didn’t mention something that hit home, what do you go to and why? Do you even consider going to God about it, or did you replace Him with something else? Here’s the main question. Is God enough? By Himself- no add ons. No substitutions. For every answer. For every need. For every desire. Is He enough?

Yal how we answer that question is the root of every success or failure we’ll ever have. The way we live out that answer can shift us to success or stagnation. Because when He’s not enough we try to find a replacement, but there is no real substitution, and whether we want to face it or not our lives will show us that truth.

To be clear, Alaina is not saying that Christianity is the solution to your problems. You will never hear me say that, but God is. Jesus Christ is, and living a life that honors Him is the key to everything. God is always the best option, not out of some brainwashed obligation, but because of the facts. God is the only source for answers in my life that has a 100% success rate- everything else isn’t fail-proof. Many of us don’t believe this because we learned how to follow people and not follow God. We may have learned what our pastor said but we didn’t learn God and it shows. I’m not asking you to fit your relationship inside the confines of religion. I’m asking you to fit your life around a real relationship because a real relationship with God brings real results. God isn’t meant to be boring. The conversation isn’t designed to be one-sided and the relationship isn’t meant to be abusive where you give everything and are left broke and broken. That’s not how this is meant to go.

You know I have had the privilege of being taught about God by some wonderful people but at their best, they could only teach me about the God they knew. Their perception was colored by their experiences and the understanding they had was all they could offer me. I’m not sure how God was presented to you. If the answers you were given made sense and if He ever seemed like He was someone you wanted to get to know. With no scare tactics, obligation, or empty promises, I’m here to tell you with certainty that a real relationship is the right move. Not just for me but you and everyone on this planet. Why because you need an answer that’s not a guess, and you need a solution that’s not a quick fix. Many of us may have been taught by people who had a limited view of God. They may have given us the piece they had, but it’s on us to fill in the rest of the puzzle. Here is my advice. Find someone whose life proves that they know God in the way you’d like to and learn from them but never stop desiring to have a real one-on-one relationship with God. Take what they teach you, and follow them as they follow Christ. Let them inspire you to have what they have but never allow anyone to become a middleman.

 

 

Who Made Your Vision Board?

Are you tired of creating vision boards that never line up with the reality of your life? I am. Last year I thought I had compiled the perfect vision of the life I wanted, but looking back I see that vision was nearsighted at best. I knew what I wanted, but not what I needed. This is true for all of us, but life gives us what we need, and it doesn’t play by our fairytale rules. So to create an accurate vision board for next year, we may need to double-check our process. What is the source of your vision? Your desires? Your social media? Your insecurities? What is the genesis for every desire for your dream life?

 

I’m learning how not to want what I want just because I want it. I not only want what God wants, but I want it how He wants to give it. I’m learning desires not wrapped in God’s timing are trojan horses. Like ticking time bombs they’ll make a mess of my life. My motto now is if it doesn’t come through God’s hands I don’t want it.

 

For many of us, the vision of our lives is from God, but we don’t believe that He’s the pathway. The root of every desire is from God, but we go wrong when we don’t trust that God has the strategy to get us there.

 

Here’s my question. Do you believe you’re capable of building the life of your dreams? If it’s all on you and you work hard can you create a life with everything you need and want?

 

That’s what this all comes down to. If you can make it happen yourself then you don’t need God. This year I realized I had spent 33 years trying to build the life I wanted, and I had to face the fact that I couldn’t. I didn’t know how. Something was always missing, and I couldn’t make my life match the vision in my head. I gave up. God has given each of us a vision for our lives that we can’t obtain without Him. So how bad do you want the vision, and what are you willing to do to get it?

 

I’ll tell you one thing you must be willing to do- Submit the “how.” The first step of submitting our life to Christ is submitting the “how.” We must treat God like He’s the only answer by asking Him what to do every step of the way. It’s simple to say but tougher to live out. But here’s my rule of thumb. The areas I forget to ask God’s input on are usually the areas I haven’t fully submitted.

 

For many of us, submitting seems like such a scary thing to do, but identify what exactly scares you. Is it being out of control? Are you scared you’ll be forced to do something you don’t want to do? Do you think you’ll turn into some weirdo super Christian who never has any fun? What is the nightmare? Be honest with yourself and then think, “Would God give me a vision for my life that I love and then force me to live a nightmare?”

 

What our fears don’t factor in is our transformation. Just like growth is an evolution our fears are a moving target. As we heal they change so the things you fear now won’t last. It is quite possible that the version of you meant to live out God’s vision will love everything God has in store for you, but is it worth it to you to find out?

 

 

What is it Worth to You?

At this point in life, I no longer care to ask myself what I want. All that matters is what I’m willing to work for. That shows me what I truly desire. My effort is currency. What I give it to shows me what has my heart and what I believe is mine.

 

The truth we can’t escape is we will have what we’re willing to seek and pursue. We are unworthy of anything we are unwilling to work for, and please don’t confuse work and hustle. Work is a consistent and intentional effort in a strategic direction. The work of our hands is intended to be divine because our focus on it is God-ordained. When it’s not, we hustle haphazardly waste our effort because we moved in a direction we found but weren’t focused in. Hustling is a choice and we only choose it when we have rejected the work God offered. It’s our way of doing something but not the work that’s required.

 

So a few questions for you.

 

• Did you complete the work God had for you this year, or did you hustle away your time? Are you satisfied with the results?

• Are there any areas that God has counted you worthy, but your laziness has disqualified you?

• What were you meant to have or experience that you said you wanted, but your inaction showed you decided it wasn’t worth the trouble?

 

I can measure my work vs. hustle ratio when I look at the peace and fulfillment I feel. Those are the results that matter. I rest better when I have worked, and I have trouble turning my mind off when I’m hustling.

 

A Message to You

To all of my hustlers out there I want to encourage you to get off the hamster’s wheel. Activity and productivity aren’t the same things. There is work for you to do that will move you forward to where you need and deep down want to be, but you’ve got to be willing to do the work- not the work you want to do but the work God has for you to do right now. If you trust Him, you’ll find that this work will get you to everything you want and more. You don’t see everything connected to it, but just because the strings attached aren’t visible to you doesn’t mean they’re not there. Be determined that you’re going to get to work, and you won’t stop until you have everything God meant for you. Maximum effort yields maximum reward.

 

 

The Bottom Line

For me, it comes down to this: Do you want to change or transform? Do you want to take a step forward or leap?

 

Next year is not so much about a wishlist of things we want to experience, it’s about how we’ll change our lives today to make transformation possible. I encourage you to leave your vision open-ended and ask God what vision He has for your life. Then be honest with yourself and see if you are ready to live out that vision.

 

Remember

• Be willing to reorder your life if necessary 
• Be willing to put in the work to experience all God has for you

 

 

I pray that God heals your vision this year. That you will see yourself clearly, and He will show you the root of who you’ve become. I want deliverance for you in revelation and demonstration, healing in your mind and your habits. The life you want is not that far away, but it’s on the other side of your surrender, and however long it takes for you to cross that chasm is up to you. I pray you have a real relationship with God, and He shows you a vision for your life that overwhelms you, that you fall in love with and that you are willing to do the work to experience.

 

I cannot wait to see how your life transforms this year.