"going Public With Our Vision" Series

GOING PUBLIC WITH OUR VISION

Isaiah 40: 28-31

David Henderson

Over 100 times in scripture, OT and NT combined, God reminds us of the power of vision. I believe Vision is the ability to take a glance into the future to see what God has for us. It is the ability to dream, to hope and to realize as Jeremiah reminds us that “God has a plan to give us a hope and a future.” So our focus this morning is found in the 40th chapter of the book of Isaiah. And as Isaiah begins writing it is as though he is telling us that “if you want to understand what God’s vision is for your life; if you want to understand WHAT God wants you to do, you first need to grasp WHO He is.” Because He is the source of all of our power. Without Him we are nothing. We are powerless.

Now the setting in this chapter is that God people were hurting. To put it bluntly, they were miserable. And what they seemed to need more anything was to be comforted. And here is why. The majority of the Jews lived In Babylon because they were not allowed to come home to Israel. Jerusalem had been destroyed. But God has a message for his people and here it is …..

• Your sad days are gone; your sins have been pardoned. In other words, your past is past; so leave it there. Don’t dwell on it.

• The grass withers and the flowers fade; all that is around you may seem to be falling apart; but get this… The Word of God will stand forever.

• God has no equal. It may seem as though the enemy is destroying you but the enemy cannot stand against God.

Listen as He describes the power of God.

• He measure the earth with his fingers.

• He picks up the mountains and places them on the scales to weigh them.

• He picks up the earth as though it is a grain of sand.

• The forests of Lebanon were massive; yet if you were to burn them all down, they would not be enough of a sacrifice to give God what He deserves.

It is as though Isaiah is telling us this: before you can really grasp/get hold of who God is, you need to first understand His power. He measures the earth with his hand, picks up the mountains and sets them down to weigh them, picks up the earth as though it is a grain of sand. The Psalmist said “when I look at the night sky and I see the work of your fingers —the moon, the sun and the stars you have out into place, I wonder why you even care for us? But then I understand that you put us in authority over all of this!” John gives us a picture in Revelation of Jesus standing among the churches, feet like bronze, voice like the thunder of an ocean, face like the sun. Can you capture the vision of the great God we serve? Because if you can, you can capture the vision of what God wants to do in your life. What He wants to do in your family and what He wants to do in this church. And the power that is available you and to me.

There are two passages of scripture that are especially close to my heart. Luke 2:52 and Isaiah chapter 40. Both are passages that God has used to help me capture vision for my life set goals and cast vision for the church. These are what we call “life verses” for me. You may not have heard that term before so let me define what a life verse is. A “life verse” is a verse from the Bible that speaks to you in special way. It seems as if it was placed in the Bible just for you. Now I hate to burst your bubble but it wasn’t. It was placed there for all of us. But these two passages are really close to my heart. Again, because they give me vision for the future.

27 years ago my family and I were living in Kentucky where I was serving as Associate pastor of a large church in the town of Campbellsville. I had been there for 7 years; we were very happy there; the ministry was doing well and we were content to remain there. A church contacted me one day and invited me to consider becoming pastor of the church. This is something I had always thought I would do one day so I began praying about it and asking God what I should do. We lived out in the country surrounded by crops all around us and I was driving home from the office one day, praying as I was driving and considering whether this was the right time for me to make this transition from being and Associate Pastor to becoming the lead pastor of a church. So I’m praying when suddenly a very large bird swooped down right across my windshield. My first thought was that it was an eagle but it wasn’t; most likely a large hawk but needless to say, it got my complete attention as I heard God say these words to me: “WAIT, “ Pretty simple message but it was clear to me that that time was not God’s time. Now you may ask did God actually speak to you audibly, out loud? I would say, “No, it was much louder than that.” And as He spoke these words came to mind …. “Wait on the Lord, for those who wait on the Lord will soar like eagles.” That experience was absolutely life changing for me. I knew what God was calling me to do; didn’t know when it would be but I knew one thing for sure; it was my job to “just wait.”