Before I start, I hate to "steal" someone else's sermon. But I listened to this one on the way home yesterday and then couldn't find after looking for over 30 minutes to share it. So below is my best attempt at the meat of Michael Todd's (quickly becoming one of my favorites to listen to) sermon on having a vision.
The text is based in 2 Kings 4 and is the story of "Elisha and the Widow's Oil." If you're not familiar with the story, it would be beneficial to give those few verses a quick read first.
At the start of this story, we see the widow in a desperate situation - her husband has died, she has no job, no money, and may potentially lose her children and everything else she owns. It doesn't get much worse. The first question that Elisha asks her in v2 is, "What shall I do for you?" The first thing that Elisha asked her was not what she has, rather she wants, what she feels like needs to happen. Think about that. How often does God ask us what our vision is, what our dreams are, what our passion is. He wants to know what we want, he's equipped us with particular skills, he's instilled in us certain passions.
We can infer from the story that the lady was like many of us when confronted with such a big question. She must have paused, unable to say what she would most desire and unable to put her vision in words. After receiving no response, Elisha follows with by asking, "What have you in the house?" When she didn't know her vision, her goals, where she wanted to be, the next thing to do was for Elisha to figure out where she was right now.
Then came her response, "You servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." Did you catch that? She had nothing, BUT. She said that she had merely part of a jar of oil which had nowhere near the value or potential to help her out of this dire situation. And we all know how the story ends - she gathered up all the containers from her friends and neighbors that she could began to pour that oil into containers and the oil kept flowing until the containers ran out.
1. Vision comes first. God's plans for us are often so big that if we knew where we would end up, we would be scared to death. But far too often we refuse to look past the issues directly in front of us to see what big things God has in store. Write your vision down and hold yourself accountable. Habakuk 2:2 tells us, "Write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it."
Whatever your vision, know what it is. Write it down, make it so there is a visible reminder to you and those around of what you're working towards.
2. Know your resources and know who holds them. Once the widow was unable to articulate her vision or desire, Elisha then asked her what she had. It's important to know what we have to work with, what our resources are. But we must also remember that God can do so much with so little. He fed thousands of people with 2 small fish and a few loaves, and here he filled gallons of jars from a near empty bottle of oil. Don't limit yourself to what YOU think your resources are - allow God to use them and multiply them how he sees fit.
Dream big! Write it down. Go for it. What are you and God going to do with your nothing but?
On a personal note, I needed to hear this on so many levels yesterday. I believe it is vital to stay dreaming, stay focused, and stay energized into never settling for just where we are. You don't have to be risky but you do have to trust God in taking chances sometimes, let's go.
The text is based in 2 Kings 4 and is the story of "Elisha and the Widow's Oil." If you're not familiar with the story, it would be beneficial to give those few verses a quick read first.
At the start of this story, we see the widow in a desperate situation - her husband has died, she has no job, no money, and may potentially lose her children and everything else she owns. It doesn't get much worse. The first question that Elisha asks her in v2 is, "What shall I do for you?" The first thing that Elisha asked her was not what she has, rather she wants, what she feels like needs to happen. Think about that. How often does God ask us what our vision is, what our dreams are, what our passion is. He wants to know what we want, he's equipped us with particular skills, he's instilled in us certain passions.
We can infer from the story that the lady was like many of us when confronted with such a big question. She must have paused, unable to say what she would most desire and unable to put her vision in words. After receiving no response, Elisha follows with by asking, "What have you in the house?" When she didn't know her vision, her goals, where she wanted to be, the next thing to do was for Elisha to figure out where she was right now.
Then came her response, "You servant has nothing in the house except a jar of oil." Did you catch that? She had nothing, BUT. She said that she had merely part of a jar of oil which had nowhere near the value or potential to help her out of this dire situation. And we all know how the story ends - she gathered up all the containers from her friends and neighbors that she could began to pour that oil into containers and the oil kept flowing until the containers ran out.
1. Vision comes first. God's plans for us are often so big that if we knew where we would end up, we would be scared to death. But far too often we refuse to look past the issues directly in front of us to see what big things God has in store. Write your vision down and hold yourself accountable. Habakuk 2:2 tells us, "Write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it."
Whatever your vision, know what it is. Write it down, make it so there is a visible reminder to you and those around of what you're working towards.
2. Know your resources and know who holds them. Once the widow was unable to articulate her vision or desire, Elisha then asked her what she had. It's important to know what we have to work with, what our resources are. But we must also remember that God can do so much with so little. He fed thousands of people with 2 small fish and a few loaves, and here he filled gallons of jars from a near empty bottle of oil. Don't limit yourself to what YOU think your resources are - allow God to use them and multiply them how he sees fit.
Dream big! Write it down. Go for it. What are you and God going to do with your nothing but?
On a personal note, I needed to hear this on so many levels yesterday. I believe it is vital to stay dreaming, stay focused, and stay energized into never settling for just where we are. You don't have to be risky but you do have to trust God in taking chances sometimes, let's go.
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