Clear Thinking

We are about to break new ground.  This evening, in fact, the church that I am honored to pastor will embark on a new journey building a youth center to be a blessing to the community.  We’ve never been a people to hold tightly to buildings or facilities, but we do have a responsibility to say yes to God, even in the everyday material things of life.

Proverbs 4:18 says that the path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining brighter and brighter till the full light of day. In other words, the more you walk it- the more clear it will become.  Several months ago our plans and our budget for this facility were bigger.  As we walked it out, sought godly counsel, prayed together and planned together- God scaled us back.  [Even when God turns our corners and readjusts our original thinking, we must say yes to Him!]

Vision must be progressive, not stagnant, otherwise we become stubborn and resistant to change.  This is not only true in the scaling back of our building design…but it is even more true in the re-adjusting and tweaking that the Lord does in us.  I can’t tell you how many times the direction that I was going, which was clearly given by the Lord, changed.  It’s as though God Himself changed his mind about things.  I think He should have that perogative, considering He knows the beginning from the end.  That’s a concept that we aren’t too comfortable with, but if we were to think about it honestly, He’s probably not so much changing His mind as changing His timing and ufolding things in a fuller dimension.

I just got back from Rwanda.  The time frame and schedule in Africa is quite different from what I am used to.  Hakuna Matata is not just a Disney song from The Lion King, but a Swahli expression meaning “no worries.”  It’s also a way of life for folks in Rwanda.  We worry because our plans are laid out and ready to execute.  They don’t worry because they have accepted the fact that plans, in and of themselves, are not the thing.  African people find it much easier to walk the path of each day, believing that the plan will reveal itself as it goes on.

Clear thinking is the result of waiting and trusting and obeying- even when obedience means uncertainty and change.  After all, it’s not just about me, but about what God wants to do in and through me.  I’m excited to see what’s around the bend.