Prophetic Teaching: Vision (Part II)

The 3 Degrees of Vision: Hindsight, Insight and Foresight

I am so glad to be with you another week as we continue our month long study on January’s theme:VISION. As I began to study our topic, there were some recurring themes that the Lord showed me. As they developed within all the verses I read through, the Lord has led me to conclude that there are different degrees of vision that we continually experience at any given time. Those degrees of Vision are summed up in the three (3) major parts that are the subject of this weeks blog. The 3 Degrees of Vision are: Hindsight, Insight, and Foresight. Let’s take a look at them all.

HINDSIGHT

Daniel 2:19 Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven.

Hindsight. It’s been said that hindsight is 20/20. I’m inclined to believe that. The thing is, Hindsight has gotten a bad rap as it is often times wrongly confused with our past. There is a big difference between looking at your past and using Hindsight. For one, your past is too tunnel visioned to be a reliable or credible. Hindsight, however, takes in to account everything and everyone it has ever come across. For another, they past is lazy. It stopped at certain point in your life and can only replay its last greatest joy, or is most searing pain. Hindsight though, will take you right up to minute ago. You will have used hindsight to reread a piece of this writing just to make sure you’re keeping it all in context. Your past will only tell you you wish you knew this last year. See, that’s the problem with memory; It is based on the past. Reflection, however, can be based on something that happened just this morning. The Past mostly promotes anxiety, but Hindsight is a promoter of anticipation. Daniel used hindsight quite a bit, like when he had to re-envision King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream. He didn’t go to sleep and re-dream it. He had a night vision and God showed it to him. That’s hindsight working. Daniel didn’t need to see the king’s past, he needed to see the kings dream. God replayed the dream for Daniel as a vision. For the King, the dream was futuristic, for Daniel it was not. Did you know anytime you have see where a person is “coming from”, you are using hindsight? You’re seeing where they’ve been, their angle, their take on life, all of that involves using hindsight. He does it again in Daniel 9:2, “In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.” Now this just blows me away, Daniel read the book of Jeremiah! So much for the argument that the people in the Bible didn’t have the Bible to go by. They weren’t just winging it. They had to read the Word too. Daniel in Hindsight or retrospect understood where he was by reflecting on what God said to Jeremiah. Daniel was able to look back into HISTORY, not the past, which is another good point about hindsight: it’s a wonderful historian. Hindsight is the history of your vision. It is the reason that supports your vision. It the groundwork for phase two, the 2nd Degree of Vision:Insight

INSIGHT

Daniel 10:1 In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was called Belteshazzar; and the thing was true, but the time appointed was long: and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision.

The second degree of Vision is Insight. It is the now part of your vision. One thing is clear and said twice as a witness, Daniel was a man of understanding. Understanding is nothing more than insight. If you have understanding then you have insight. It’s that simple. If you have no insight into what’s going on around you, you have no understanding of it either. You can have actions. You can have a role. You can have an opinion. You can have a vote. You can have all of that without having insight so you never really understand the why of what you has to be done. We really have hindsight mastered. What we lack is insight. That’s a recipe for regret. We all have a vision and are a part of somebody else’s vision. It takes insight to do your right now part. Daniel’s right now part was to weep, fast, and intercede for Jerusalem. Didn’t Jeremiah call for the people of the captivity to howl? Daniel understood that Jeremiah was talking to the ones with insight. If you have Insight, you have the greatest responsibility to gap-stand for the vision. If you can see what your leader, boss, spouse, kids, friends, neighborhood, are trying to do…then you have the greatest responsibility to pray them through it. The only physical thing Daniel could do in captivity was go to work, go to persian church, and pray. Let me point out here that every vision doesn’t make you shout. Some stuff we see is heartbreaking. Insight is what we use to stabilize our emotions. That stability comes from understanding what we see. The verse says Daniel had understanding of the ‘thing” and of the “vision.” That means he understood the reasons for what was going on; What God sowed him in the vision, he understood it to be the reasonable outcome for the behavior of Israel. Visionaries must be reasonable. Check the scriptures, God isn’t against reason. He’s against intellectual highmindedness. Daniel was able to read Jeremiah and humble his thought process to what he read. His insight told him what was “true.” Your constant use of Insight will anchor you through the vision, however long the process. That takes us up to the Third Degree of Vision: Foresight.

FORESIGHT

Daniel 10:14 Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.

Foresight is the ability to see into the future. That future can be a second from now or decades from now. It is always before you. It is visual only to the spirit. Your minds eye can imagine, but only the spirit can foresee. You can have a pretty good idea how its gonna turn out, but only foresight knows for sure how its going to turn out. Foresight will cause you to plan much more than a hunch will. Foresight had Joseph to store up the grain. Foresight had Abraham glad about Jesus’ day(Jn.8:56). It is foresight, not foretelling mind you, that dominates the tone of chapter 10 in Daneil (v15,17) While you may not have a prophetic word about everything you do, you sure better have prophetic foresight about it. It is the unspoken part of the vision. Remember, you were only commanded to write it all, not tell it all. You don’t have to put it all out there at one time. Indeed God had Daniel “seal the book, even to the time of the end.” You’ve got to pace your vision to get you through to its fruition. Forget 70 years, 365 days is long time to be pray, fast, work and worship every day. There, I said it. We can only do it if we have foresight. Two weeks into the New Year and I can tell you you are only still committed and resolved if you used foresight. If you imagined yourself thinner, you’re probably still fat. If you hoped you’d be traveling, you’re probably still sitting at home. If you thought real hard about changing, you are probably still the same. It is foresight and foresight alone that compels men to plan to meet their goals. Foresight alone challenges us to gear up for the long haul. Those who are for you must have foresight concerning you. Parents had foresight, your boyfriend at 16 did not. Your Pastor should have foresight concerning you. Your employer had to have foresight concerning you, at least enough to get you out of training. Again, Foresight may be but for the next 3 months. Foresight may be for the next 30 years. It all depends on the purpose of the task. Jesus foresaw us and gave his life. My Apostle saw me and was longsuffering towards me those past 12 years. Foresight, I’m telling you, will make you hang in there. Foresight alone motivates us to make better choices. It is not hindsight that does it. Hindsight educates you on the consequences of your choices. It is not insight that does it. Insight makes the best of what is already chosen; Only foresight implores you to make better choices. Foresight is the final, yet, maybe the most crucial step in any true vision.

Conclusion

Last week P. Jonathan, in The Prophet Speaks blog, talked about a recipe. It was spot on.

A vision can truly be likened unto a recipe. The ingredients are like hindsight. They show us how a dish began. The instructions are the insight into how a dish came together. The picture of the dish is the foresight. It’s what it should look like when its done correctly. The Vision God gave you is your recipe for success this year. Week 1, (hindsight) we laid the framework for this exciting groundbreaking study on Vision. This week (insight) has taken us to the next level in our understanding. Just imagine, nope use foresight and anticipate what we’ll find out next week.

Hang On Ministry supports your Vision2012!