On working away from family, moving forward in spite of obstacles, and keeping vision out front.

I heard a great quote this past week from Andy Stanley.  ”When your dreams exceed your vision…the end is near.” 

How many of us live in the past?  We live on past successes and expect that our good times in the past will carry us to good or better times in the future. But that’s the lie we tell ourselves.  The salesman who becomes salesman of the month, becomes complacent and fails the next month.  The pastor who preaches a great sermon one Sunday, becomes satisfied with the work he did on last weeks sermon and feels like he can just carry that intensity into next week’s without proper study and working throught the text the way he did before.  The husband executes a great night of enjoyment for his wife with a nice dinner and conversation, and then does nothing to keep stoking the fire and the romance needed for that relationship.  

 

How do so many of us live on past successes expecting them to carry us into the future? This is disturbing.  Life is not about living in the past.  It is about finding out what the vision is and keeping it out in front so you are moving forward in life instead of moving backwards or at a standstill.   It is about learning your skills and talents, gifts and abilities, and moving forward in life to accomplish greater things and develop deeper relationships than what you did in the past.

 

For about 8 weeks now,  I have been working here in Houston, TX , away from my family to follow the call of God on my life towards beginning anew the journey of ministry He called me to so many years ago.  I miss my family.  I hate being apart from them.  But I do this right now for a short period of time so that in the future, we can not only take care of ourselves financially, but also so that we can be qualified to take on the responsibilities of the roles and the call God has placed on our lives.  

Every day there are reasons for me to not get up, not get out of bed, and not move forward creating the future for my family.  But if we are going to experience a transformation in our lives, we are going to have to go through the metamorphasis of life that comes our way.  So many of us do not like change in our lives, because we have a problem with the pain that comes along with change.  

Following a dream is hard.  It involves sacrifice.  It involves isolation.  It involves rejection and discouragement.  And it must be in the midst of the pain that we find in ourselves the will to continue on in spite of the circumstances we are in.  The dream is in the heart to become a reality.  There is a reality that can only happen if we live the life of our dreams.  Obstacles are there to be overcome and problems are there to be solved.  Ultimately, there is no gain without any pain.  

 

I do not know what the future holds.  No one does.  And anyone who tells you they know the future is a liar because they do not know what could happen next.  There could be a turnaround.  There could be a breakthrough.  There could be a new opportunity.  

True fulfillment only comes when the price is paid, the deed is done, and the dream is realized.  Until then, all we are is dreamers.  Let us become doers and practitioners.  Then we will find ourselves on the other side of the future with a new dream, a bigger vision, and a closer understanding of our God.