INVEST IN YOUR VISION

INVEST IN YOUR VISION

Has the Lord given you a vision? Is there something that he has called you to do for him that burns in your heart to be accomplished? Are you willing to invest in your vision?

Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With A Mission, (YWAM) tells how that, in the early days of the mission, God spoke to him in a prayer meeting and said that he was going to give YWAM a farm. The next day Loren was jogging past a farm where they were selling off old farm equipment. He jogged on past then suddenly stopped, went back and bought a roll of bailing wire and an old farm wagon. He knew that he had no use for them, unless the Lord did give them the farm, but he believed in his heart that God had spoken and that he must put his faith into action and make some kind of investment in the vision.

Within a few weeks, a large farm was given to YWAM which for many years has been used in the training and sending forth of missionaries. The old farm wagon still stands in the front of a YWAM base somewhere in Switzerland as a reminder to invest in your vision.

Several years ago, my wife and I began to feel that God was calling us to take the YWAM Discipleship Training School. When I inquired I found it would cost several thousands dollars for my wife and I and our two young daughters to attend these schools. My faith staggered. I simply did not have it within me to believe for that much money. I said, "Lord, if you want us to go, send in the money and we will go." I thought that was a fair, unselfish, wise, and safe prayer. In one masterful stroke I had conveniently put the entire matter in the hands of God, so I just began waiting for him to put the money in my hands so that we could go. "Lord, the ball's in your court." I thought.

Several months passed and nothing happened. Something was wrong and I had a feeling it wasn't God's problem, it was mine! One day the Lord said, "What are you willing to invest in this project?" Suddenly I realized that although I was willing to go, I was not willing to make any financial sacrifice of my own to get there.

I was reminded of another incident in the life of Loren Cunningham. When he was 20 years old, one night he saw an open vision of waves of young people crashing onto the beaches of every continent. For a long time he pondered the vision and prayed about it. Then one day, he knew what he had to do. He sold his prize possession, his custom made car, and bought a plane ticket to go around the world to find out what it was the Lord was calling him to do to bring to pass the vision of the waves of young people being sent out as missionaries to every continent.

The result is history. YWAM is now one of the largest missionary forces in the world, with thousands of workers on every continent. One young man was willing to invest everything he had into his vision and the Lord has brought forth out of that sacrifice a harvest of blessing that has touched every country in the world for Christ.

I said, "Lord, I will go and take my family to a YWAM base and take this training, even if I have to borrow the money." I took out all the money we had in savings and borrowed the rest and off we went to YWAM. It has been one of the best things we have ever done together as a family.

Do you have a vision of God's call on your life? Are you investing in that vision? Peter wanted to walk on the water with Jesus, but he had to make an investment. He had to get down out of the boat and be willing to get wet if necessary to see his vision fulfilled. Am I willing to get wet, to suffer inconvenience, to be misunderstood, to leave my job, to change locations, to be re-trained, to suffer the loneliness of being away from my family for long periods of time, to go to a strange land, to spend all the money I have on the vision God has given me, to even lay down my life and consent that my wife and children lay down their lives in order to do God's will?
Unless you can say "yes" to these questions, you may never see my vision fulfilled.

The will of God and my vision must be the same. I cannot construct my own vision. It must be God-given. God and the will of God are so much the same that it is impossible to seek God without finding the will of God, and it is impossible to run from the will of God without running from God.

You may say, "But I don't know what God's will for me is." You are responsible to know. Not only does God require us to do his will, he also requires us to know what his will is. I can know what the will of God is for me, not only in the everyday decisions of daily life, I can also know what his will is for my life. "Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is." (Eph. 5:17) NIV

Read Romans 12:1-2 below, and do what it says. You will discover what he wants you to do and be. That discovery is your vision. That is where God will have you invest your time, your talent, your money, your prayers, your strength, your resources, your all.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Rom. 12:1-2) NIV