When I was younger, I was part of a girl’s dance group, and we were good! We would go and dance at birthday parties, talent shows, and other places that we were invited to; so at that time, I was under the impression that I wanted to dance full time even as I got older.
As is often the case with life, things happened, our group disbanded, and the goal of being a dancer went with it. When I was in the eighth grade, I found myself enthralled with the idea of being a professional runner. I ran track, and I was fast…but then we moved to the metro Atlanta area, and I discovered that while I was fast at home in our little country town, I could barely compete in the big city. Like the dream of being a dancer, the dream of running professionally slowly died away. As I got older, what I came to realize is that as I assimilated myself into different groups or cultures, I started to wonder if my purpose in life was to do something in the field in which I had connected to at that time.
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Assimilation is something that we all do…and too often, we fail to realize that it taints the vision and purpose that God has for our lives.
The Oxford definition of taint means to “contaminate or pollute.” I firmly believe that Paul was urging us in Romans 12:2 not to conform…or assimilate…to the world’s way of doing things, because it would taint the perfect will of God in our lives. But assimilating is so much easier than seeking out guidance and direction from God!
If you click on Facebook or Instagram right now and scroll down the timeline, you will see a lot of people that look the same, dress the same, and even say the same things. I’m not being critical here; but rather, I am saying that it’s widely acceptable to be “in line” with the most current fad or trend, and sometimes, you may be viewed differently if you are not “going with the flow.” But how does going with the current trend enrich your vision? Maybe you used to have a vision of being a writer, but now everyone is rapping and singing—so now, you want to rap or sing. That’s not even a gifting that God gave you, but because you have tainted vision, that is all you can see.
It’s like parents who watch a lot of sports. When they have a child, the only thing they want their child to do is play sports. Now the child may have the stature, stamina, and willingness to play sports but God gave him a mind to create and he wants to be an engineer…but the parents can only see sports. This is tainted vision. Instead of pushing the gifting of the child, the parents have chosen to push their agenda on the child; sometimes, this works and sometimes, it doesn’t.
What if we look at ourselves like those parents, constantly pushing to go in one direction in our lives because of what we’ve been around and what we’ve seen on TV, Instagram or Facebook; but God is constantly speaking to our heart, trying to get us to understand that He has so much more for us than what we are currently thinking. God did tell us that His thoughts are higher than ours. I believe that one reason we can’t think higher sometimes is because we can only think as high as we can see. I’ve seen a 300-acre mansion be built for someone that was once like me but I’ve never seen a 300,000-acre mansion…so I don’t even believe that one could exist. We have limited ourselves to what we can see. How do we overcome that? We walk by faith and not by sight.
To walk in faith, you have to trust and seek God for direction and clarity. To walk in faith for something so large that you laugh just thinking about it, you have to cut out all of the outside voices and distractions that aren’t aligning with your vision. Only God can reveal what your true purpose and gifting is, so it’s going to take some relationship building with Him. Relationship building is important in every facet of life. Many corporations now place a high priority on relationship building skills, and even offer classes for employees to help them become more proficient at it. I remember one job that I applied for where relationship building was actually part of the skillsets that they emphasized. If it’s that important on the natural side of life, don’t you think it is just as vital on the spiritual side of life? We must build a relationship with Christ so that He can lead us, guide us, and allow us to get past all that society and culture tells us to do, so that we can hear His heart, and do what He says to do.
Relationship building with Christ requires sacrifice and commitment. One thing we can do is fast: abstaining from natural food while eating the spiritual food of Christ…the Word of God. We can pray, which is talking to God and having an open heart and ear for Him to talk back to you. Another thing we can do is sing and praise. The Bible tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people. When we are singing and worshipping, we literally pull Him into our space. There are many ways to build a relationship with our Creator, but these are the most necessary. I must insert here something that I always say, especially to new people in the faith: “It’s not the quantity but the quality.” So yes, it is vital that we spend time with God but two solid hours of uninterrupted fasting and praying is better than eight hours of fasting and praying, and we end up lying a little, cussing a little, or even cheating a little. The quality and sincerity of the heart is vital in relationship building. It’s just like a marriage. My husband and I can be at home all day together; but if we go out for a date night even for a couple of hours, those hours are so vital to our marriage as a whole because we spent quality time with each other.
How do we overcome tainted vision? Know that you are more than your current circumstances. Apply Romans 12:2 which tells us to not be conformed or assimilate to this world but be transformed by the renewing of our minds and then we will be able to see what is the good and perfect will of God for our lives. We also must build a relationship with God. When we build a relationship with God, we take our eyes and our focus off of everything else around us that doesn’t line up with what He is showing us or telling us about our lives. If you don’t have a business that is solely digital, then maybe you can sacrifice a week or month of Facebook or Instagram so that you know that what you are getting and hearing in your spirit is truly from God and nowhere else.
We have to understand that overcoming tainted vision is hard work…but it’s necessary. Why be like everyone you see when God says we are a “peculiar” people; peculiar “isn’t like everyone else.” The Bible says God gives us witty inventions…so God will give you something that no one else has even heard of. How do you think we got computers, Apple, and Google? God says we are a royal people and not many people believed it until Meghan Markle, an actress, married a duke and she became a duchess. Pastor Mike Todd has been saying in his Crazy Faith series that “It’s only crazy until it happens!” When God says you can have what you say, you can! You just have to remember that you’ll need Him to get there. Trust God in this process of seeking clarity of vision and purpose, and watch God do exceedingly, abundantly above all you can ask or think!
Ladebra Milton
Ladebra Milton is a graduate of Kennesaw State University with a degree in English. Although she struggled in reading comprehension most of her life, through the grace of God, Ladebra made her weakness one of her greatest strengths. She loves both reading and writing! Ladebra has been married for eight years to her wonderful husband, Carlos Milton, and they have a beautiful three-year-old daughter.
LADEBRA MILTON
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Oh my, oh my, Ladebra! I found myself so engaged in this post from the very beginning. What a wonderful reminder that we must seek God for the vision for our lives! And it is so incredibly hard to believe that you struggled in English when you were younger. You certainly have conquered that obstacle! Thank you for this!
Thank you so much. I thank God for gracing me to thrive in an area that I used to hide. He is faithful. Each time I get a chance to write, I am able to show off the glory and majesty of our God!
This was such an encouraging and to the point post!!!! I have often wrestled with staying the course as God has instructed and not worry about trends or what’s trending. A tainted vision can ruin us. Thank you for these words.
Thank you for reading! I am so happy something was said that could encourage your heart.
Such an awesome post! The phrase, “Know that you are more than your current circumstances.” just makes me focus on the bright future that God has in store for us. Thanks, Ladebra for reminding that each one of us is uniquely special and that God’s love for us is tremendous!
Amen! You are welcome. I am so grateful to our God for continuing to encourage us, even in the smallest of ways.
Wow this is amazing and so true. Thank you for sharing and opening our eyes. We have to take the blinders off and seek god in all we do. We have to trust the process even though we can’t see the full picture.
Yes, we must allow God to be our Influencer and not all of the other people and things that we currently have in our atmosphere. He has the master plan so we have to trust that no matter what it looks like, we will walk in our destiny if we remain faithful to Him.
Thank you! Yes, we must seek God but then follow His instructions. Sometimes we seek Him but when His answer doesn’t align with our vision, we override His answer with what we want to do. We have to know that he has the Master Plan, so if we trust Him and align ourselves with His vision, then we will walk in our destiny/purpose.
As I was reading this great article, I was reflecting on the many times in the past when I started a business just because someone else had been successful in it. Having a tainted vision can truly delay our purpose. It is my prayer that we will fully trust in God’s plan even when it makes no sense to us!
Thank you Ladebra for this wonderful piece!
What an awesome Message Ladebra.
This was truly an eye opener Reminiscing on the things I’ve allowed Obstacles and discouragement to steal my passions and dreams I’ve had. But no more I got work to do and Thank God for giving me grace to do it!