I have encouragement for you today: that vision in your heart that overwhelms you? It's not too big for God.
Our kids had a couple extra days off of school around the weekend so we took off to the Northwoods of Wisconsin for some needed rest and play as a family. My parents have a wonderful cabin, and we've been blessed to visit there often over the last 18 months. In other words, we're familiar with the area.
And yet, this trip, even in the familiarity, the evergreen trees struck me as so tall and awesome. Maybe it's because the surrounding trees were bare from having lost all their leaves that these majestic pines were highlighted in height. Maybe God was teaching me something. Either way, I couldn't take my eyes off them.
From a distance, their beauty is whole. You can see the individual trees, their height, and density. The beauty makes you want to get closer and see the details. However, the closer you get, the taller the trees become, the more magnificent, the more overwhelming.
It struck me that this is how it is with God-sized vision. You get a glimpse of what God could do in your life and at first, it's beautiful and leaves you wanting a closer look. Yet when you investigate further, the grandiosity of the vision begins to overwhelm. It seems impossible to accomplish, completely out of reach.
Friend, you are in good company! The Bible is littered with example after example of chosen people given God-sized vision, overwhelmed by the instruction...
Abraham: But we are old and barren, how can I father generations? (Genesis 15)
Moses: But I'm a terrible speaker, how can I convince Pharaoh? (Exodus 4:10)
David: But I'm just a shepherd, how can I be King? (1 Samuel 16 He doesn't exactly ask this, but we can imagine, right?!)
Esther: But I could die going to the King, how can I save my people? (Esther 4)
Mary: But I am a virgin, how can I birth the son of God? (Luke 1:34)
Notice if you take all the details from each individual's question, it becomes simply, "But...how?" Isn't that our normal response to visions or dreams that overwhelm us and feel impossible? Doubt sets in, and we decide that surely we imagined the whole thing. We do nothing, and truthfully the vision remains just that...our imagination.
But friends, what I realized is that the question "but how" focuses the success of a vision on our own abilities and circumstances. Isn't our God so much bigger than our own pathetic abilities in comparison? Don't you think that if He wanted you to do something, He would also prepare you, open opportunities, and give you His peace and guidance?
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21 (emphasis mine)
It is not our responsibility to ensure the outcome of God's vision. It is His! What is ours is to humbly accept our role in obedience as part of His vision. Focus first on His promises and truths in prayer, continue responsibly where we're currently placed, and faithfully take the next steps.
This is what I love about coaching: you don't have to do it alone! We can work together with the Holy Spirit through the haze of change, identifying steps along the way that God is leading you to. Whether you see the vision clearly or simply know that God is leading you somewhere new, we can work through it together, find joy in today, and peace in the process.
Don't let those towering visions overwhelm you; hand them back to God, fully trusting that they are not too big for Him.
Cheers, friends!