1 THE POWER OF A GOD-GIVEN VISION Last week we concluded by looking at the example of Gideon. You ll remember that he saw himself as small and weak. When God called him to fight a battle and defeat Israel s oppressors, he responded, But my clan is the least in my tribe, and I am the least in my family. I m can t do what you re telling me to do. You ve got the wrong guy. Get someone else who s got what it takes. In essence Gideon told God, I can t because I m not. I can t defeat an enemy because I m not a warrior. I can t lead an army because I m not a champion. I can t do your will and deliver Israel because I m not strong enough, smart enough, or courageous enough. And God tells Gideon: You don t know who you are. I do. Go in the strength you have, be obedient to what I tell you to do, and I will go with you, and you will defeat the Midianites. And that s exactly what happened. Here s my guess. When it comes to how you see yourself spiritually, and what you believe you can do for God, and the kind of difference you can make in the lives of others, you are way underestimating yourself.
2 You were made to fight a battle that matters. You were made to make a difference that s eternal. And you were made to live with a vision that will change some part of the dark, desperate and depraved world we live in. But it won t happen, none of that will happen, until you quit selling yourself short, and stop telling God what you can t do and why he s got the wrong person. So, before, we move on, let me tell you what you need to hear. You have what it takes. You have strengths you don t know about You have abilities you don t appreciate. You have a God-given purpose that once you discover it will fill your life with immense power. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. And God s calling on your life and the needs of the world are too important for you to waste any more time, telling God who you re not and what you can t do. God made you. God knows you. And he has given you everything you need to succeed at what matters most. God has a vision for your life and you can be sure that he has given you the strengths and the gifts you will need to fulfill that vision and be victorious for his kingdom. Here s a clip from a movie that, believe it or not, came out 28 years ago. Baseball movie tell me when you know it baseball movie, Kim Basinger is the femme fatale, the star is Robert Redford.
3 It s the Natural, of course. Here s the set up. Pittsburg 2, the Knights 0. Bottom of the ninth, two on and how many out? Two, of course. And Roy Hobbs steps up to the plate with the bat he carved out of the heart of a tree after lightning struck it. He s had it ever since he was young. Do you remember the bat s name? Wonder Boy. All his life he s been able to count on it. It s been his confidence and his strength. Roy steps up to the plate, carrying an old wound, and the knowledge that a mistake in his past has cost him his best years. Clip: The Natural, Pick Me Out a Winner, Bobby. Get it? Wonder Boy it s not the bat. It s him. It s Roy Hobbs. He s the wonder boy; he s the natural. And when it comes to what God has called you to do, when it comes to the battle God wants you to fight, and the difference God created you to make, who s the Wonder Boy? You are.
4 You may need to learn and grow and mature. You will always need a team. But you are The Wonder Boy. God created you with enough gifts and abilities that you can go in the strength you have, and be victorious in fighting Kingdom battles and fulfilling his vision for your life. Vision, purpose, God-given dream, calling whichever term you use, I have said that you are meant to have a sense that this is how God wants me to invest my life and use my abilities to expand his Kingdom and make life better for others. When it comes to Men and Visions, there are four options. Men and Vision: Four Options 1. We live without a vision. We may have a vision or a plan for our professional lives, but spiritually we drift along, no sense of direction, no real purpose. This is where many men live. Get up, go to work, come home, raise a family, take some vacations, look forward to retirement, and that s pretty much it. And often they feel empty inside, like something is missing. Some of us, to hide from the spiritual void in our lives, we tune out and turn off with the computer or the TV or the bottle.
5 Or we get distracted and withdraw through a hobby, or we get seduced by some minor passion that promises excitement but becomes a major problem that produces excruciating pain. With some men, it s nothing so destructive. Their relationships provide a sense of meaning and fulfillment. They love their wives and invest themselves in their children. And there s little that s more important than that. But, still there is the sense that I was made to do more than to take care of me and mine. There s Jesus saying it s what you do for the least of these my brothers you do for me. And what you don t do for those in need, it s like you re not doing for me. And there s the sense that the war has begun. Eternity is being decided. And we re not engaged. We haven t taken up the cause of the Kingdom we say we have committed our lives to. Live without a God-given vision, and at best you ll live feeling like there s something missing in your life. At worst, you ll disconnect from your heart, feel empty inside, and try to take away the pain by turning off your feelings or by giving into temptations. This is the empty life. Other men live 2. We live with a self-centered vision. Many men, live with a vision for themselves that is no bigger than professional and material success.
6 I think you should have a vision for your work life. You should aim high, set goals and work to achieve them. But many men, that s the totality of their life-vision. They have a picture of where they want to go in their business lives. They are determined to accomplish great things and to make a name for themselves. And they work long and hard to do so. And success for these men is often defined as rising higher and making more than the other guys. And this might work for you as long as you can ignore the fact that you are a spiritual being. As long as you can forget that a life of significance is different than career that s successful and that you can rise to the head of the pecking order and end up as nothing more than the head pecker. This is the life that is full of self. And it will bring you a sense of fulfillment only if you think life is about self and you can forget that God gave you the life you have, that it is a trust he has put in your care, and you exist for his kingdom, not your own. Another way, a better way, is 3. We live for a vision of what we want to do for God. Here, our intentions are good. We want our lives to count. We know that what matters most are the things we do for the Kingdom. And because we are grateful for all that Christ has done for us, we want to do great things for God.
7 So we dream the biggest dream we can dream, we go to it, and hope it will please God. This is the well-intentioned, but still self-determined life. It centers on my vision for God, instead of God s vision for me. And that leads to the fourth option. 4. We live with a God-given vision. We ve said that some of us have a clear picture of God s vision for our lives. Others of us, we re still in the process of discovering what it is. But having a picture of how God wants you to invest your life is important and it is empowering. And that s what I want to talk with you about the rest of the morning. WHAT A VISION WILL DO FOR YOU 1. A Vision Will Prioritize Your Life I ve told you before that the greatest enemy of the best is often the good. Without a vision every good cause looks important, and we can feel that we should give some bit of our time and our energy to all of them. THE RESULTS ARE THAT WE OFTEN: 1. Do things that others should do and can do better than we can. 2. Do many things without doing any of them well. 3. Give attention to matters which divert us from God s primary call upon our lives.
8 This is similar to what I described last week as being a spiritual butterfly, flitting about from one thing to another, doing some good here and there, but never investing our lives in such a way that we bring about significant transformative change. But how do you say no when there are so many good things to do and good people are asking you to do them? It s hard unless you have a vision that tells you: This is what God wants me to achieve and I cannot let lesser things, even good things, keep me from accomplishing God s calling on my life. With a God-given vision for your life, it becomes, if not easy, at least easier to say no to good people asking you to do good things that will keep you from accomplishing the great things God wants you to achieve. Without a God-given vision for your life, you may accomplish many things. But we are not likely to accomplish the main thing God has for you to do. I know you guys know these things. You wouldn t be the successes you are if you didn t. But I want you to know that they are as true in your spiritual life as they are in your business life. You cannot have or do everything you want. You do not have enough time or energy to achieve all that you can see to do. So you must choose carefully and purposefully how you will invest the limited resources you possess.
9 Part of maturity, both in spirituality and in business, is to realize that you cannot accomplish everything, but if you choose carefully you can accomplish just about anything. You are limited. Your time, your energy, the number of years you will live. You can deny that reality and try do everything; or you can accept that you are limited and find that fact liberating. If you are limited, God does not expect you to do everything. If you are limited, it is not only ok to say no to good causes; it is imperative that you say no to opportunities that would keep you from saying yes to the priorities of God s vision for your life. Knowing that you are limited gives you the freedom to concentrate on God s purpose for your life and to say no to other things that would distract your attention or diminish your efforts in achieving that purpose. I ll tell you straight up. I don t have the energy or the capabilities that many of you have. Many of you do so many things and you accomplish so much in so many areas. Physically and emotionally and mentally, I am limited. And I have become comfortable with that. I am limited. And if I don t live within those limits, if I don t stay focused on a relatively few tasks, I don t accomplish what God wants me to do and I don t stay healthy emotionally and spiritually. I don t mind saying it: I am a very limited person.
10 But I m also comfortable in saying: But if I go in the strength I have, I can accomplish great things. If I try to go in the strength I don t have I will get less done, not more; and I ll become a real pain to live with. A God-given vision will tell you: these goals are to be your priorities. Accomplish them. And you can feel ok about saying no to other opportunities. 2. A Vision Will Energize Your Life People do not get up in the morning excited about maintaining the status quo. We are unlikely to give our best or make sacrifices for the mundane, the insignificant and the meaningless. But a vision that speaks to our hearts creates passion and energy. In fact that s how Bill Hybels defines vision. Bill Hybels: Vision is a picture of the future that produces passion. David Lean was one of the greatest film directors who ever lived, often ranking in the top ten on lists of best evers. His movies include such extravagant epics as The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, and Doctor Zhivago. Steven Speilberg said that when he saw Lawrence of Arabia the first time, he left the theater stunned and speechless. Here s a brief clip from an interview where Spielberg talks about meeting David Lean. Clip Youtube When asked why he was a director instead of a producer, Lean said: I have to do it. It s in my blood.
11 Most of the producers he knew saw film primarily as a way of making money. Of them he said: Practically every day I thank God I m doing what I m doing, and I bet none of those people thank God that they re doing what they re doing. That s what I want for you and that s what God wants for you for you to connect what s in your heart, what you believe in, what you care about and who you are in the depth of your being to connect all of that to what God is doing in the world. Some people live all their lives without connecting with the strength of their passion. Some Christians serve God that way. They grit their teeth and do their part at the church. They serve on some committee because they think they re supposed to. They teach children s Sunday School because it s their turn. They take on a project at the church because the pastor asked them do. They do it because they think they should. But I want you to find what s in your blood. What s in your heart. What makes you come alive. What makes you think: I was born for this. Only when there is real passion for a cause will there be real power in a ministry. And that s what a God-given vision will do for you. What God calls you to give your life to will build on who you are and what you care about.
12 And though it will not make your life easy in fact it will make your life difficult because it will require sacrifice and hard work it will make your life immensely more fulfilling than a life that has found nothing worth sacrificing for. When you have a dream that births a passion that becomes a calling, everything changes. You don t do serve because you ve got to, you do it because you get to. You don t serve because it s your turn, you do it because it s your heart. You don t serve out of duty, you do it out of the depths of who you are. And instead of draining energy from your spirit, it revives your spirit and it makes you feel alive. One of the men who goes to Belize I think he has been on all three trips when I asked him why he goes, he wrote about the needs there, and how much he wanted to help the children there who in his words were unwanted and unintended by those who brought them into the world. He said: We can t take them out of there, but there is plenty that can be done and that is what I am going to do. When I m there, I want to be there. When I m not there, I think about being there all the time. Having a God-given vision for your life will not make your life easy. It will burden your heart and make you care and make you hurt for those that are unwanted, unintended and unloved. But it will energize your life with passion and power. And it will make you glad that you have something to give yourself to that truly matters.
13 3. A Vision Will Cause You to Grow Spiritually God-given visions are God-sized visions. God doesn t size down his vision to fit the man, he grows the man to fit the vision. For Moses to believe he could deliver the Israelites from Pharoah without an army was absurd but he did it because God gave him a vision. Read his story and you ll see how in fulfilling God s vision for his life he grew into a man who was at the same time incredibly strong and incredibly humble. For Gideon to believe that he could save Israel from the Midianites was ludicrous but he did it because God gave him a vision. Read his story and you ll see how in fulfilling God s vision he grew from seeing himself as the smallest and the weakest, into a military leader, who walked in obedience, faith and courage. For eleven rather ordinary men to believe they could change the world was foolish but they did it because Jesus gave them a vision we call the Great Commission. And eleven bunglers who never seemed to get it right, who argued about who was the greatest when they followed a servant, who fell asleep when their Lord needed them most, and who deserted him to save themselves, read their story and you discover than in following God s vision for their lives they were transformed into men of incredible spiritual insight, not only able to perform miracles and preach with power, but able to stand strong and faithful when doing so meant they themselves would die for their faith. What God has for you will require that you grow more faith, more character, and more strength than you have or thought possible. And that will never happen if you live for a you-sized vision instead of a God-sized vision. Back to one of the guys who went to Belize. This last trip in addition to working on the school, they worked at an orphanage. Here s what he wrote.
14 Apparently in Belize, the situation has to be unimaginably bad before the government will take children as wards of the state. 60 beautiful little kids living in an area designed for fewer than half of that, filthy and foul bathroom facility and very little adult supervision They speak English, and they want to play, and they want to talk, and they want to hug and be held. And they have hopes and dreams and they aren t any different than our own children, and you just want to take them all in and get them out of that place. They need everything. Sheets, pillows, mattresses, soap, clothes, shoes Certainly love. During a break, I was inside with all these kids, just me. Playing, talking, teasing, piggy back rides, etc. One little girl, maybe 8 years old, asked if I would pray. You mean, play pray? No, will you pray? Rob, as you know this is a struggle for me but in that instant I felt God telling me to man up and honor this little girl s request, and not just mail it in because if anyone in the world needed and deserved a decent prayer, it was these beautiful children. And they put their little hands together, and I gathered them all around me and the most perfect prayer spilled out of me and I cried like Rob Renfroe. I m just telling you once you step into God s vision for your life, you will grow in ways you never expected. And you will become a man you never thought you could be. 4. A Vision Enables You to Create the Future Fatalism says that what we do does not matter. The future is already determined and we are its puppets. The Gospel says that God gives His people visions so that we can join Him in creating a future that brings salvation to the world. Though God is Sovereign and ultimately will have his way, in the interim he allows people, for good or for ill, to make choices which effect the future. In his book Servant Leadership Robert Greenleaf writes Robert Greenleaf: The forces for good and evil in the world are propelled by the thoughts, attitudes, and actions of individual beings. What happens to our values, and therefore to the quality of our civilization in the future, will be shaped by the conceptions of individuals that are born of inspiration.
15 The better day that God creates most often comes into existence after he has given a person or a community a new vision. And when that person or community becomes faithful to the vision a new day a better future some part of God s Kingdom comes into a dark and needy part of our world. Last week we read part of William Wilberforce s speech to the British House of Commons in which he called for the end of slavery. He knew that the interests that opposed him were great and the fight would be a long one. I told you last Tuesday it was a cause he devoted nearly 50 years of his life to. In that speech he begins by stating that he felt weak and inadequate for the task. Here s how he continued. William Wilberforce: But when I reflect, however, on the encouragement which I have had, through the whole course of a long and laborious examination of this question, and how much (kindness) I have experienced, and how conviction has increased within my own mind, in proportion as I have advanced in my labours; when I reflect, especially, that however averse any gentleman may now be, yet we shall all be of one opinion in the end; when I turn myself to these thoughts, I take courage I determine to forget all my other fears, and I march forward with a firmer step When I reflect that we shall all be of one opinion in the end what a remarkable statement. I have a vision that one day slavery will be ended. It will be a battle, but it will be won. I believe it and I can see it. There will come a day when no Englishman practices slavery or even believes it s acceptable for anyone to own another human being. And with the power of that vision what? Wilberforce says, I take courage I determine to forget all my other fears, and I march forward with a firmer step.
16 You who oppose God and enslave men, you will not create the future. Those who love God and care for others, we, with God s help, we will create the future that God desires. George Barna: To create a better situation... you can either rely upon random circumstance and hope that the result is better than what has existed, or you can assert control over your environment, based on God s empowerment and direction, and make a better future. Vision is about pursuing the latter approach. Politicians, entrepreneurs, terrorists, mothers they all create the future in one way or another. Why not the men of God? Why don t we ask God for his dreams for our lives and for our world? Why don t we expect that the God who gave dreams and visions to his people in the past, will give us dreams and visions today? There is power in a God-given vision. And a God-given vision will put power in you enough power to work hard when you d like to quit, to make sacrifices that other men won t, to serve those that are unwanted and unintended, and to change some part of the world into something that looks like the Kingdom of God. If we can live with a God-given vision If we can live with passion and power If we can live not for peace, but glory and we can why would you live any other way?