Which Way?
A major problem, for most people, is a lack of direction in their life. They drift along driven by every current without ever having a goal or vision for their life. Their situation reminds me of the early disciples after the ascension of Jesus until the day of Pentecost. They were hidden away, powerless, and directionless. Then God intervened!
(Acts 2:1-21 ESV) 1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” 14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 ” ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. 19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’
Do you see the difference? They went from mild to wild when God moved in; from just hoping they survived to believing that all could be saved. Therefore, I urge you to consider God’s vision for your life and stop being content with lesser things.
- Set a worthy goal; one that honors God. Your view of God determines how big your goal is. So, how big do you think God is? The issue is not who do you think you are, but who do you think God is? In your dreams for your life, don’t limit yourself by saying, “What can I do?” Instead ask, “What can God do through me? What can God do in this place?”
- Don’t worry about solving all the problems before setting your goal.A good example of this principle can be found in the life of the United States President, John F. Kennedy. Regardless of what you think about his politics, Kennedy stood up one day in the early 1960’s and said, “We’ll put a man on the moon by the end of the decade.” He was clear; he was precise; and the vision was something people could look to. Now, here’s the interesting thing — when he said it, the technology to put a man on the moon hadn’t even been developed. That’s faith.
- Commit for the long haul. A guy once told me that he believed that God was calling him to be an evangelist. He said, “I’m giving it six months and if it doesn’t pan out; I’ll try something else.” I told him, “Don’t even bother to try!” We overestimate what we can do in one year, and we underestimate what we can do in ten years or twenty years. When I came here in ’79, the youth ministry started with just one girl. She was the only one that really wanted it. By spring of 1982, we had forty regularly attending youth Bible study. The trouble with most goal setting is we set our goals too low and try to accomplish them too soon. Instead we need to set big goals — huge goals — enormous goals — but plan plenty of time in reaching those goals. It takes twelve hours to grow a mushroom, but five years to grow an oak tree to maturity. Don’t hurry God; let Him plant you in a work and grow you up there.
