I was thinking recently of the importance of maintaining the integrity of the vision of God in our assignments. And, I was thinking of the importance of honoring a God-vision that has been handed down or assigned to us from the previous work of another.
I was thinking about our church and how God spoke to Pastor Robbins and told him to start a new work in the community where “the Word of God is taught in its entirety and where whosoever will may come.” That vision or assignment was honored by Pastor Robbins and the pastors that succeeded him before I was given the assignment.
True pioneers of God’s vision do not hold the work so tightly that God cannot move within the assignment. I remember in the early days of my assignment and going to the Robbins and saying “God is doing a new thing” and they responded “ yes and why can’t people see it?” In their 80’s they could hear and see the NOW move of God.
The vision of teaching the Word in its entirety and allowing whosoever to partake, was still the foundation of any change God was doing. But God was moving His body into a new season. The old season was the springboard for what He was bringing about. The original vision was the backbone to the new. The vision for our church is not my vision but God’s vision and remains the guide for all we do and every new thing that comes into and out of our church. Methods change, but the guiding principles do not.
We cannot allow the culture of the day to tamper with the vision. We received another assignment recently and that was to oversee a Christian school that had been established over a decade ago. I spoke to the pastor who received the original God-vision through a prophetic word and was told that God wanted a “Daniel Academy” in Concord. The vision of the school is that young Daniel’s are produced who exhibit excellence in character, spirit and academics. We take this assignment very seriously because the vision is not our vision, but God’s vision and all we do is with these goals in mind. We cannot tamper with His vision nor can we be slack in our intended goals.
I began to think of how often the original God-vision gets tampered with because egos or greed get involved. Sometimes it’s the one who heard the command and sometimes it’s those who are handed the responsibility to continue God’s assignment. Suddenly the vision is no longer God’s, but it becomes “my vision.” This cannot be and God will not allow it to prosper. God must be the CEO of all we are allowed to steward in our assignments. It can never be about “me”or “my vision” and we must stay close to God to know His heart.
As we move into 2024, we must be very intentional with our assignments and understand God’s vision for all we are allowed to steward. As today’s Proverb says we must seek wisdom as silver and understanding as a hidden treasure. This comes through a knowledge of the fear of the Lord.
As Habakkuk says. Habakkuk 2:2–3 (ESV): The Righteous Shall Live by His Faith
2 And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. 3 For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it;
it will surely come; it will not delay.
Let’s not get impatient because it seems slow in fulfillment. Let’s not help God along by changing His vision to “my-vision” because it’s fulfillment seems to be taking too long. When we change God’s vision to “my vision” then we no longer need to change ourselves to reach His goal. It is for an appointed time if we will remain faithful and integrous to His Vision.
Intentional in 2024!
