More visions die over the question of “how” than over anything else. God gives you a what, you look over at how; you have no idea how, and the vision dies. God gives you a what — it’s a neighbor, it’s a friend, it’s a prodigal child, it’s an aging parent, it’s a ministry to start, it’s a group of people — you’ve got a big what, and you look over and say, “How in the world can I do that? How in the world can I ever talk to them? How could I ever call them? How, how, how, how, how? And since I don’t know how, the vision dies.
If there’s anything I’ve learned in these years of ministry, and reading Scripture, and watching men of faith and women of faith, it’s this: If God gives you a “what,” you stay focused on the “what,” and watch for God to give you the “how.”
The Imagine Church movement, over the course of just a few months, has grown to be a significant force for good and for God in the Charlotte region. Our growth quickly exceeded the available space at Palisades Episcopal School. Many began to ask questions like, “What are we going to do? How are we going to handle this?” My honest answer was, “I don’t know how.” But if there’s anything I’ve learned as a Christian, watching God do so many amazing things, what I’ve learned is this: We are not responsible for how. We’re just responsible for what God gives us. And normally, God gives us a “what” and not a “how.” And our responsibility is to do everything we can with the “what,” and then sit back and watch God unfold the “how.” Because that’s the way God does it. In just the last several days, the truth of this principle has once again been made clear in the opportunity to move Imagine Church to the beautiful and spacious campus of Charlotte’s Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary.
When Gordon Conwell opened its doors to Imagine Church, here’s the message that was imparted to you and me: When God gives you a “what,” don’t let your vision die over the question of “how.” God is an expert at how. God specializes in how In fact, I would go so far as to say this: If God gives you a “what,” and you think you already know “how,” number one, you’re either wrong, or number two, it’s not a vision from God. It may be a good idea, because we can figure out how to handle our good ideas. But a God-idea rarely comes with a “how.” Because God’s goal for us is to do what we know how to do, and then sit back and watch what only God can do. And when all is said and done, we don’t walk away going, “Boy, did we ever pull that off.” We sit back and go, “Ah! Was that God, or what?”
When you’re involved in a God-idea, when you’re involved in a God-sized vision, you are the first to know: If God hadn’t come through, it just wouldn’t have happened.
Here’s the great news about a “God idea” verses a “good idea.” If it’s a good idea, you are limited by your resources and your potential. If it’s a God idea, your only boundaries are God’s resources and God’s potential. If it’s a good idea, you’ve got to get in there and make it happen; if it’s a God idea, there is a sense in which you sit back and watch it happen. And all you can say is, “Wow!”
