Pastor’s Weekly Note, January 13, 2012
It seems like forever that I’ve been wearing glasses. Actually, I’ve worn glasses since I was in second grade. I started out with the wonderful “horned-rim” glasses; you know the kind that were very pointy where the bow met the rim. From there I advanced to wire rim and then rimless and have finally settled on the kind I wear today. (Although it may be time to change them)
At first my lenses were made of glass, but then as my prescription continued to worsen, I had to switch to a lighter material because regular glass lenses made my glasses too heavy, and it looked as if I were wearing the bottoms of coke bottles.
Needless to say, I’ve spent a large amount of time with the eye doctor, trying to make sure that my vision was corrected with my lenses. That reminds me… I’m going to need to make an eye appointment soon. It’s been over two years since I was last seen by the eye doctor (that’s probably a modern-day record for me!).
One of the tools the eye doctor uses is an eye examination machine. I don’t know the technical name for it, but it is the one where you look through it and the doctor keeps switching the lenses and asking you if the image you see is better or worse, sharper or duller.
I think we all know this, but it is not the doctor that gives you vision. What he does is work through a process to clarify and sharpen your vision. He takes what you already have and he works with you so that what you already have and what’s been given to you by God is sharper and clearer.
This coming Sunday morning we’re going to be talking about God taking us through a similar process. As we’ve been reading through the book of Nehemiah, we’ve seen the birth of a vision in Nehemiah’s life. In the tension of what was and what could be, a vision was birthed in Nehemiah to rebuild the walls of the city of Jerusalem.
We’ll continue this look at Nehemiah in Nehemiah 2:11-18. We’ll see two principles through this section that will aid us as we individually begin to see God’s vision for our lives, and then how those two principles affect us corporately.
Some may question why we are doing the things we’re doing. Things aren’t the same as they’ve always been. That’s a pretty accurate assessment. And the reason we’re doing different things and that things aren’t as they’ve always been is because vision is about change. We don’t like change because it disrupts lives, it disrupts schedules. But the fact of the matter is that whenever you allow a vision to be birthed in your heart and you commit to it and take hold of it with both hands, you will rock a few boats, and you will make people uncomfortable. You yourself will be uncomfortable.
I’m sure Nehemiah was uncomfortable with what God laid on his heart, and yet it didn’t stop him from doing what he did. A major reason for him continuing on and doing what he did was because God was able to clarify and sharpen his vision, all the while he was working in other hearts with the same burden that was in Nehemiah.
Folks, we are not alone in what we’re doing. God has banded us together at Calvary to accomplish His purpose and His plans, to Connect people with Jesus, to Build disciples who follow Jesus, and to Cultivate leaders who walk as Jesus… to make disciples who make disciples. Sure, we’re fewer than we were a few years ago, but I believe that God has us right where He wants us so that we can watch and see what He does through us and we can have no doubt that it was Him that did it. The challenge is: are you capturing God’s vision for your life?
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Russ
Explore posts in the same categories: Pastor's Note
