There’s something sweet in setting our minds and hearts on God’s vision. When we need encouragement in walking out the vision God has placed on our hearts and rooting it in Christ instead of ourselves, we can find great help in turning to Esther, Nehemiah, Ezekiel, Deborah, and many others from Scripture. We get to feel like children who have crawled up into a parent’s lap for a deeply renewing and loving time of stories. Scripture is rich and filled with examples of vision and how to walk it out, as well as the difference between self-centered vision and God-centered vision and how it plays out.
Over the years, I certainly chased enough of my own visions that were not from God and found that when I accomplished those goals, I felt a momentary zing of accomplishment, almost an addictive drug-like high that quickly faded. In order to feel good again, I had to rush off to accomplish the next thing in order to find my next “hit.”
A vision that is rooted in Christ and that is from God has the opposite effect. When those visions are accomplished, they become eternal reminders of God’s faithfulness. When they move from the vision board to the celebration board, they become visual testimonies and reminders of God’s faithfulness and greatness that do not die down over time, but remain eternally. When hard times come, instead of getting caught up in the rat race of striving and self, we need only look at the celebration board to be filled with praise for God’s faithfulness. We don’t have to run off to the next thing to get another “hit.” Instead of being empty, it is deeply fulfilling. One taste of this goodness, and there is no desire to seek a vision and dream that is my own, but rather the one that God has given me.
Dreaming big and imagining is so healthy, especially when the things we dream about are gifts from God that center our hearts on Him instead of ourselves or pleasing others. God asks us to keep our heads to the plow and not look back, and so it is such a gift to have a vision from Him to focus on each morning during quiet time as well as when things get rough, or anytime Christ’s Spirit hugs us a bit and brings it to mind. Thinking on our visions is an excellent and empowering way to live out Romans 12:2 and Philippians 4:8, to renew our minds by thinking on positive and healthy things. Because the vision for Love Powered Life is from God and not myself, thinking on it gets my mind and my heart off of myself and onto God and His eternal purposes. What a gift to be given a vision that is beyond me!
God has invited Love Powered Life into His vision and dream to create a loving residential community for trafficking survivors and their families. It sounds crazy to a lot of people, but nothing is impossible for God. It is God’s vision, so it’s not up to Love Powered Life alone to make it happen. It goes on our vision board and we simply take the baby steps He gives to us and trust that God’s got it because our God is faithful. Sometimes God has us working and other times He benches us and has us still while He is working and showing off. It’s not up to us- God doesn’t need us, but I am thankful and humbled that He invites us to join Him in what He is already doing.
Whether we see the full completion of God’s vision for Love Powered Life sooner or later is not the point. What a beautiful beginning and what a delight and an honor to be included in this part of God’s story now and in this moment! Thank you for being part of it, too- without you saying yes to joining in what God is up to, Love Powered Life would not be here. What a cause for praise and celebration! God has begun the work and is faithful to complete what He has started! I am humbled as I see God bringing people together for His purposes, and then growing us as He impacts others for eternity.
Love Powered Life 