Earlier this week I took a prayer walk around the edges of the field adjacent to our yard, which was quite a workout in the deep snow! My prayer focused on the vision; over the last few months there was such a flurry of activity regarding the vision but the whole process seemed to shift into low gear. I am rather lost as to the next steps that need to be taken. At one point on the walk, in the far corner of the field, I stopped and drew a large circle in front of me in the knee deep drift. I told God, “That represents the vision—Freely Proclaiming the Radical Hope of Jesus Christ to the Next Generation!” Then I looked out over the pristine cover of snow over several acres of field. “And that, God, represents the future—I don’t know where to step next. I don’t want to sully the untouched beauty of potential.”
As I stood in the snow I had to make a decision about getting home; I could not just stand there in the cold but I did not want to retrace my steps. So I just started walking, plowing new steps, knowing I was headed in the right direction. When the snow got too deep, I shifted my route. Since it was blindingly white, I kept looking up to orient myself to my house, which meant adjusting my path. And I eventually arrived at my warm house.
“If we were talking about good ideas, that would be different. Good ideas are limited to our potential, connections, and resources. If you are simply pursuing a good idea, then you need to devote a great deal of time and energy trying to figure out how to pull it off. A divine vision, on the other hand, is limited only by God’s potential and resources. That means anything is possible. If it is just a good idea, you have to make it happen. When God gives you a vision, there’s a sense in which you stand back and watch it happen.The challenge is that sometimes you have to stand back for a long time. Since we never know exactly when or how God is going to intervene, it is imperative that we remain vision focused. We must focus on what he has called us to do, not on how he is going to pull it off.Staying vision focused keeps us God-focused. The vision is a reminder of our dependency. We remain aware that if God doesn’t do something, there is no going forward. For that reason, people with vision live with a sense of expectancy. They look for God to do something. They live by faith in the truest sense of the word. That is, they are living as if God is going to do what they believe he has promised to do.
In light of a divine vision, our daily faithfulness takes on new significance. It is no longer faithfulness for faithfulness’ sake. There is something important at stake. If the visionary doesn’t act, something significant won’t get done. Believers with vision live with the knowledge that how may come about independently from their planning. But it will not come about apart from their faithfulness. Faithfulness is critical to success.[1]
Let’s keep faithfully praying about the camp’s vision and walking in His light. Our faithful walking does not sully the untouched beauty of potential; rather it requires us to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus so that we orient ourselves to His awesome plans for this camp!
Visit www.campluz.com for more information on the Camp Luz vision.
Visit www.campluz.com for more information on the Camp Luz vision.
2 comments:
I really love that you footnoted your blog. :-)
It's what seminary did to me.
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