A Vision Bigger Than Us

By Brian Henson (written November 2013)Every so often, I hear stories that are so profound, so convicting, or both, that I have to share them. This is especially the case when it involves “ordinary” folks like us. I can read about great men and women of history from a safe distance—after all, I’m not “like” them, and so I can hold their experiences at arm’s length. But when it’s a story about a regular Joe being involved in extraordinary things, it starts hitting close to home, because I know God can, and just might, ask me to be involved in the same sort of thing. At the very least, I know he is calling me to learn from their example.Last week, I heard one such story while Jim and I were in Denver for denominational church planting meetings. I met a man there named Bud, who has been the lead pastor at a church plant in Virginia for the last year or so. As neat as it is to hear anyone’s story that is involved in church planting, it’s the back-story, in this situation, that was so amazing. Several years ago, a small church, comprised mostly of senior citizens, was at an impasse. They wanted to grow, and wanted more space, but their church building was on an historic registry, and therefore couldn’t be modified. At that point, it would have been easy for them to become discouraged, and choose to either pack it in and go to church elsewhere, or to continue to decline, as they had been doing for years. Instead, they started asking themselves, “How does God want us to be involved in his Kingdom moving forward?” They eventually arrived at a solution: a new bedroom community had sprung up just a few miles away, on the outskirts of Charlottesville, and it needed a church. So, they decided to set up a church-planting fund, make regular contributions, and call a church planter when the time was right. Long story short, God provided for the financial need in a greater way than they could ever have imagined, and they were able to call Bud to plant the church. They are almost a year in, and both churches are healthy, vibrant congregations, reaching more and more people for the Kingdom of Jesus. It was the efforts of these folks whose names will never be on billboards—who won’t even be known by most of the people that attend the new church—that God is using to carry out his rescue mission to the ends of the earth.What is so challenging for me, personally, as I reflect upon this story is the fact that these folks embraced a vision that was bigger than they were. Instead of believing that everything that was happening to (and around) them was about only their church and their individual lives, they knew they were involved in a much larger story. The same was the case in the life of Joseph, which we talked about this past Sunday. Joseph was a “regular guy” too, who was thrown into a set of circumstances more extreme than any of us will likely ever face. However, through the years, whether things were good or bad, he knew that his story—even the parts he would never have wished for—were part of something God was doing, something much bigger than he could have ever imagined. What gave him this assurance? Put simply, he kept his eyes on God’s character and his promises. He knew that God was good and that he would always keep his word to watch after his people. Those two truths kept him going. This is why he could tell his brothers in Genesis 50:20, “You meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” Do you see it? Joseph had a vision that was far larger than his own life. Otherwise, he would have folded years earlier.So what about you and me? Can we see that our story is part of a much larger one—a story that God has been writing throughout history—to save people like us through the life-giving message of the gospel? If you’re like me, you struggle to see that sometimes. It’s difficult to connect what’s going on in your life like an illness or a job loss with the biblical story of God’s redeeming love. Or, if things are going great in your life, you might miss to the connection as well, because success has a way of blinding us to what’s truly important and lasting. So how can we develop “eyes” and imaginations that help us connect the dots? In closing, here are a few suggestions:1.)    Realize that this is the case, whether or not it seems like it. This is where revealed truth (Scripture) has to trump our impressions or feelings. We have to make a volitional choice to trust that God is at work. Read Isaiah 26:3 and soak in that truth.2.)    Related to this, remember that your story is always the “backside” of someone else’s story. You got the job, meaning that someone else didn’t. Your family dines in a particular restaurant, meaning that for a brief time, you are a part of that server’s life, showing them grace, or showing them something else. You get the idea. God has put you where he has you for a reason, so don’t waste the opportunity to be salt and light in those places. 3.)    Pray that God will help you see how he is at work from time to time. As with Joseph and the little church that planted the other church in Virginia, it’s encouraging to see that God has been at work. He won’t always show you how he’s working (think of Job), but that shouldn’t keep us from asking for glimpses of what He’s up to. 4.)    Stay connected. It’s pretty hard to remember that you are part of a larger story if you are not connected to a larger community of believers. You need others to remind you of this fact in word and in deed, as you serve and are served, and as you worship together. These things will pry your eyes off yourself and onto the bigger picture.5.)    Remember the cross! At the cross, we see the supreme example of God working through the worst of circumstances to bring about redemption, and the climax of that plan of redemption. When we think long and hard about the gospel, it is compelling like nothing else, and makes us want to give our lives away for the sake of our King Jesus and His Kingdom. It makes us want to be involved in telling the story of redemption as far as the curse is found. It gives us courage in the tough times, and gratitude in the good times. In short, it gives us a vision bigger than us!