Vision Motivates
Way back when I was in my 20's I was busily restoring a 1970 Camaro. It took around five or six years (and $17,000) to really get it where I wanted it, but when it was done it was something else! I bought it in 1984 for $250, and everyone thought I was nuts for acquiring such a junkyard refugee, let alone investing in it. But I had a picture in my head of what it could be... that vision drove me to spend many late nights under the car covered with transmission fluid or grease and many thousands of hard-earned dollars. I never complained. I could see beyond the difficulty.
Now that I am a respectable 40-something family man and homeowner, my hobbies are a bit less ambitious. The pictures are of my back yard, which came with the house we bought in the ghetto in 2004. As you can see, the back yard was ghetto too, but with some hard work and TLC (and a couple hundred bucks), the transformation is stunning.
Which brings me to the Kingdom, ministry, and people. What motivates us to keep going through the numerous hardships we face in ministry?
In a word, vision.
We encounter people who are thoroughly broken (like many of us once were) and we get a picture of what Jesus can do... to them, to their family, to their community, and beyond. It's that vision of what could be that motivates me through the long nights, dark nights of the soul, difficult situations, burnout, crazy workload, heartbreak, spiritual warfare...
What's your vision?
Now that I am a respectable 40-something family man and homeowner, my hobbies are a bit less ambitious. The pictures are of my back yard, which came with the house we bought in the ghetto in 2004. As you can see, the back yard was ghetto too, but with some hard work and TLC (and a couple hundred bucks), the transformation is stunning.
Which brings me to the Kingdom, ministry, and people. What motivates us to keep going through the numerous hardships we face in ministry?
In a word, vision.
We encounter people who are thoroughly broken (like many of us once were) and we get a picture of what Jesus can do... to them, to their family, to their community, and beyond. It's that vision of what could be that motivates me through the long nights, dark nights of the soul, difficult situations, burnout, crazy workload, heartbreak, spiritual warfare...
What's your vision?
posted by Steve at
3:00 PM
4 Comments:
Steve,
Nice yard. Environmentalist.
This topic is a hot one, and as you know, very timely for me in this season. My vision is pretty big (National Youth Ministry connectedness), so I have to take some big risks and make a big investment - kinda like that old car of yours. Ugly now, but I can see it!!!
Hey Bro, join the fray on my blog. I need your brain.
Great analogy with the yard. Your pictures encourage me in looking at the potential of one's spiritual life. I know that my own yard was a mess before the I allowed the Lord to start pulling weeds and scraping paint.
Speaking of the old yard, your photojournal reminds me of a character in a movie I saw a long time ago called Smoke. The character owned a little shop and every day when he opened the store he would take a picture of the corner from his doorway. He had albums full of the photos that told the story of the corner. Now that I have a door, I think I will try to start a similar photolog. Yours is great.
B"H
Hey Steve,
I like your photojournalism and application of the function of vision in our lives and work. Your yard looks really great and all the moreso in contrast to how it looked when you bought it. Thanks for sharing this concept. I wish that more believers would allow GOD's vision of His people to effect their lives and work too. Who we are is NOT defined by what we do, but what we do will reflect who we really are.
Blessings,
Shlomo
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