People of Vision

There was a movie made a few years ago called, Failure to Launch. In it, the main character, Tripp (Matthew McConaughey), cannot seem to move out of his parents house. Despite his parents' best efforts, Tripp seems satisfied to remain in the safety and luxury of their house. At one point, Tripp is at a local restaurant with two of his best friends (also living with parents) and he is giving a magnificent speech about why he chooses to live at home still. He concludes his thoughts by saying that it would take a stick of dynamite to make him move out. Turns out, all it would take was a determined blonde played by Sarah Jessica Parker.
In this movie, Tripp didn't want to leave home because he was well taken care of. His mother did his laundry daily, cleaned up after him, and cooked him amazing breakfasts. **Side note: My mom was great - but even she didn't do that kind of stuff for me the last few years I lived at home!** The more you learned about Tripp, the more you came to realize, he wasn't really a self-motivated or driven man. He went with the flow and seemed to make the best of whatever life gave him. Nothing really seemed to faze him.
So what does this have to do with Thursday's message? Maybe nothing. But maybe . . . just maybe . . . there is a lesson there. I hope so because I kept being reminded of this movie all week, and I don't usually think about movies like that very much. I find myself being a spiritual Tripp - far too satisfied with living in the comforts of my parents house (i.e. the church) when God desires for me to realize that the vision for my life (my purpose) doesn't begin until I can move outside the church's walls and begin to understand what it means to "live for Christ." Because what sort of life do I really have if I never leave the four walls of my own home? Can I believe God enough to step outside and see what God has planned on the other side of the door?
People of vision are able to see beyond the physical limitations of what "is," and can look beyond that to what "could be." They are not satisfied to simply exist. They do not take comfort in the safety and security they have in life. No, people of vision actually look forward to the uncertainty that comes from risking it all for their vision. They know that there is no risk to great, no sacrifice too large, when compared to possibility of attaining their vision, their dream, their purpose. And for Christians, that is even more true because nothing, NOTHING, can compare to the plan and purpose God has envisioned for us. The real question is: Are we visionary enough to go for it? Are we willing to risk all we know, all we have, for the things God has planned for us?
The other night, I said that I did not consider myself much of a visionary. But after all of my study this week, I find myself wanting - no needing - to retract that statement. God has called each believer to be a visionary. He wants each one of us to be able to see possibilities "in Christ" that the world says are impossible. He wants us to have a revelation - an understanding - of who he is (in all his greatness, majesty, power, grandness, superiority, etc). When we have a true revelation of God, no vision seems too impossible because we know that "with God all things are possible." He gives us the vision and then becomes the very source by which that vision is made possible. If we only believe.
So what's your vision? What has God shown you? What do you want God to do in you? In Element? Do you have a fresh vision (revelation) of God in your life? And if so, are you living every moment in pursuit of that vision? Or has something sidetracked you?
God wants more for us. Let's not be satisfied with what has already happened - let's look forward to and believe in the BEST things God has yet to do in our lives. Let's be dreamers. Let's be visionaries. Let's trust him to make the impossible a reality in our lives. That's the way I want to live. Join me.
Dream big dreams this week. Remember that service is cancelled next week due to Sonshine. And Sam is speaking the following Thursday. See you in a few weeks!