Vision: Mind the Middle
How do we mind the middle? The middle between when the vision is cast and when it is fulfilled.
It is in this period that our fortitude is really challenged.
Read Numbers 13 and 14
Have you ever seen something in your mind that makes you question negative “what ifs?” What if you can’t…
How to mind the middle:
- Mind the what if
- Stick to the plan
- Sacrifice yesterday’s normal
- Tomorrow’s victory requires hard work…today
- Anticipate victory
- Mind the what if: We cannot avoid the what ifs… negative what ifs cause doubt. They can cause us to turn around or settle. Therefore, we do not get to move forward on the mission that God has called us. But if we ask God “what if,” in the right way, we can have confidence and trust in God. Ask yourself positive “what ifs.” What if I am good enough…
- Stick to the plan: Things will not be easy, but they will be victorious. we often want to get all of the steps, all at once, for the plan and vision before we start executing the mission, yet God usually gives it to us one step at a time without the whole plan.
- Sacrifice yesterday’s normal: Forget it. For new parents, once their child is born, their normal is changed for the rest of their lives. As we become new disciples, there are things we can longer do, things that can keep us back from what God wants us to do. It can cause us to retreat. So we have to sacrifice yesterday’s normal so that we have a new normal.
- Tomorrow’s victory requires hard work… today: One of the common negative “what ifs” that we can tell ourselves is… what if it’s too hard. How many times do we look at the difficulty in our life and say… that’s hard. We already have our own issues that we present and take to God, yet there are also souls out there that might depend on the fortitude we have. Making disciples is the work God calls us to do and we need to realize that it will be hard work, but also understand that God goes before us and we have the victory.
- Anticipate victory: If the people understood what Moses, Joshua and Caleb did, they would have recognized that the victory was theirs because God was with them. God sent them there to scout the land and people so that his people could know what is in the plan and to anticipate victory. We will see multiple victories, each one greater than the one before if we trust and obey God as we mind the middle. God has won the victory!
God has given us a vision to make more disciples for Jesus. He has already secured our victory.
We are a disciple making church. Mind the middle.
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