"Dwight had one goal when he arrived as a teenager in Chicago - to accumulate a fortune of $100,000. Working night and day, he threw himself into his quest.
Dwight also ran a Sunday school program at his church because he was primarily interested in the prestige that came from racking up big attendance numbers. Then one day, one of his teachers was absent, so Dwight had to take the teacher’s class of teenage girls.
He had a terrible time. The girls were unruly and undisciplined. They laughed at his face. He wanted to throw them out and tell them never to return.
The following week this teacher came to Dwight, looking extremely pale and upset. It turned out that he was suffering from tuberculosis.
Dwight told him that he could understand why he was depressed, since he was on the brink of death. "No, that’s not what has upset me," the teacher replied. "I know that when I die I’ll be going to heaven. No, what upsets me is the girls in my Sunday school class - after all these months of teaching them, not one of them has received Jesus. I can’t bear the thought of dying without that happening."
Dwight had never heard anyone talk like that before. Moved by this teacher’s concern for his students, he said, "How about if I drive you around in my carriage, and we’ll visit each girl individually and tell them about Jesus?"
That’s what they set out to do. At the first house, the teacher was barely able to climb the stairs due to his illness. The two men talked to the teen about Jesus, and this time there was no laughing - instead, she prayed to receive Christ as her forgiver and leader.
They drove to the next girl’s house - and the same thing happened. And at the next and at the next. They went out the following day, and the same thing happened again and again.
Finally, after 10 days, the dying teacher came into Dwight’s shoe shop, his face shining. "The last girl in my class has yielded herself to Christ," he announced joyfully.
Together, they celebrated as never before! Since the teacher was leaving the next day to go home to New York to die, Dwight called all the girls together. Later, he said that it was a meeting that kindled a fire in my soul that has never gone out."
These children, newly adopted into God’s family, gathered around their dying teacher and read the words of Jesus, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house, there are many rooms..."
They sang hymns and then knelt while Dwight prayed. But as they were rising, one girl spontaneously began praying for her teacher - and then another and another. They were prayers of thankfulness for God’s influence on his life, prayers of thanksgiving that his eternity in heaven was assured. Dwight had never seen anything like it - these children were turning around and ministering to their teacher in his time of need.
As he was leaving, Dwight said to himself, "Oh God, let me die rather than lose the blessing I received tonight."
Dwight’s life was changed that day. In light of all he had seen, his dream of stockpiling $100,000 lost its allure. "I got a taste of another world," he said.
Today, we remember Dwight L. Moody as the 19th Century world-renowned evangelist God used to bring countless people to faith. It’s a name that would have been lost to history if he’d been content to merely pursue the lesser dreams of this world - dreams that pale in comparison to the daily adventure and rewards of reaching people with the eternity-altering message of Christ.
So let me ask: What’s seizing your imagination these days?"
(Lee Strobel in Outreach Magazine, May/June 2005)
Here’s what seized the imagination of a first century great heart:
Acts 16:9-10 (NLT) - That night Paul had a vision. He saw a man from Macedonia in northern Greece, pleading with him, "Come over here and help us." 10 So we decided to leave for Macedonia at once, for we could only conclude that God was calling us to preach the Good News there.
At first you might not recognize it, but this was a pivotal moment, not only in church history, but also in the history of the world! This vision from God was the primary catalyst for the timely transporting of the Good News about Jesus from one continent to all the people groups of the earth!
This vision helped Paul and his missionary friends focus God’s direction for their lives. We all need dreams with that kind of focus.
The Macedonian vision gives FIVE OUTLOOKS TO HELP US ADJUST THE FOCUS OF OUR VISION.
1. Be open to new possibilities.
Let’s put the Macedonian vision in context. Paul and his missionary team had just attended the Jerusalem Council. The leaders of the church got together to decide whether or not Gentile converts to Christianity needed to adopt Jewish ceremonies and customs.
Here’s what precipitated the meeting.
Acts 15:1-2 (NLT) While Paul and Barnabas were at Antioch of Syria, some men from Judea arrived and began to teach the Christians: "Unless you keep the ancient Jewish custom of circumcision taught by Moses, you cannot be saved." 2 Paul and Barnabas, disagreeing with them, argued forcefully and at length. Finally, Paul and Barnabas were sent to Jerusalem, accompanied by some local believers, to talk to the apostles and elders about this question.
Why did these men from Jerusalem choose Antioch in Syria to proclaim their rubbish? It could be because of the diversity that the church at Antioch represented. You will remember that it was at Antioch in Syria that the disciples were first called "Christians". (Acts 11:26) And why were they the first to get this new moniker? I wonder if it was because observers there had to come up with a new name - never before had they witnessed Jews and Gentiles worshipping together as they did in Antioch of Syria!
The council agreed with Paul and Barnabas and decided that Gentiles did not need to become Jews in order to become Christians. They were expected to follow God’s moral laws, but the church was free to flourish in cultural contexts other than Judaism.
The church had crossed an essential bridge in carrying out the Great Commission and no one was happier than these missionaries!
We need to adapt what happened at the Jerusalem Council in focusing God’s big dreams for our life.
Some of the Jews in Jerusalem wanted to limit God’s big dream by superimposing their personal agenda to it, but if you want God’s big dreams for your life you’ll need to be open to focusing on new possibilities!
Don’t limit God as to how He can achieve His big dream for your life. Don’t say, "God, here’s the way I want you to fulfill your dream in my life."
God’s ideas will not be limited like ours! He has ways of doing things we’ve never imagined. His plans are always bigger and better than ours!
Years ago a team of 3M researchers was trying to develop a high-strength adhesive. One of their attempts produced the exact opposite - a very low-strength adhesive. Most of the team thought the result was a failure, but one saw it as an opportunity. That "failure" became the glue on 3M Post-it Notes!
If we’re not careful, we can become so fixated on what we’re expecting to see, that we fail to see what God wants us to see!
The Jerusalem Council helped set the stage for the Macedonian vision. And when you and I are open to letting God do new things we too are setting the stage for God’s vision entering our lives.
The second outlook to help you adjust the focus of your vision:
2. Be objective about others who see a different vision.
When Paul and his first missionary partner Barnabas started planning their second missionary journey, just after the Jerusalem Council, a problem cropped up. Barnabas wanted to give a guy named John Mark a second chance at being a member of the team.
Acts 15:38-40 (NLT) Paul disagreed strongly since John Mark had deserted them...39 Their disagreement over this was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark and sailed for Cyprus. 40 Paul chose Silas, and the believers sent them off, entrusting them to the Lord’s grace.
Who was right in the disagreement over John Mark? Was Paul right for denying him an opportunity to travel with them on the second missionary journey because he had abandoned the team the first time around? Or was Barnabas right for giving him a second chance?
It could be said that Paul was right because the Holy Spirit gives us an inspired record of his journeys here in the books of Acts, but does not chronicle the further missionary travels of Barnabas. But there’s also a point to be made about Barnabas being right, because in later years Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:11b (NCV), "Get Mark and bring him with you when you come, because he can help me in my work here."
Was it Paul’s discipline or Barnabas’ compassion that made Mark a good worker after his early failure? Probably both. It’s likely Mark needed his mentors to take two different approaches for his spiritual progress. He needed a mixture of discipline and compassion.
It’s often that way in the work of God. It’s often good to have various approaches represented.
God gives different people differently-focused dreams about "how it should be done." Is one approach "right" and the other "wrong"? Not necessarily. They’re just different approaches that stem from different dreams.
Warren Wiersbe said, "One of the dangers of Christian ministry is imitation. If my study of Christian biography has taught me anything, it’s that God uses different kinds of people in many different ways to get his work done." (Be Myself, The Memoirs of One of America’s Most Respected Bible Teachers, p. 241)
Various worship styles, different types of church government, and a myriad of methodologies for reaching people for Christ have all proven successful. In fact, God intentionally gives people different dreams so they can reach different types of people!
Interestingly, you will find that the more focused your dream is, the more it will exclude some people. They can’t see what you see because God hasn’t given them the same vision. But don’t let that discourage you. God likes it when our dreams are focused. It takes focus to see clearly. It takes focus to get specific things accomplished for God.
I’m so glad the Bible includes this disagreement between Paul and Barnabas because it helps us understand what inevitably happens to all of us at one time or another. We don’t have to feel compelled to offer "cookie-cutter" service to God. We’re all unique, so it stands to reason that God will give different groups of people variously-focused dreams for their lives and service for Him.
I’m sure Paul and Barnabas didn’t hate one another or act in any way unchristian when they disagreed. But you can’t gloss over the fact that good Christians do disagree.
Our attitude needs to be one of objectivity when this happens in our lives. Let others dream the dream God has given them while you focus on the dream God has given you. Don’t worry. Don’t fuss. Trust God. He knows what He’s doing.
Do you realize that it was actually a good thing that Paul and Barnabas split? There were now two missionary teams going out where there had previously only been one! They were now able to cover twice the territory spreading the Good News, and they were each able to minister with a focused outlook!
Here’s the third outlook for focusing your vision:
3. Be observant for others to share your dream.
After Paul and Barnabas realized their specific dreams were not compatible, Paul found a young man named Timothy who shared his focused dream.
Acts 16:1-3a (NLT) Paul and Silas went first to Derbe and then on to Lystra. There they met Timothy, a young disciple whose mother was a Jewish believer, but whose father was a Greek. 2 Timothy was well thought of by the believers in Lystra and Iconium, 3 so Paul wanted him to join them on their journey.
Perhaps no one understood the religious and cultural gaps between Jews and Greeks like Timothy, a young man who grew up in both worlds! What a great addition to the "dream team" of Paul and Silas - men interested in taking the gospel to Jews and Gentiles alike.
A gem dealer was strolling the aisles of the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show when he noticed a blue-violet stone the size and shape of a potato. He looked it over then, as calmly as possible, asked the vendor, "You want $15 for this?" The seller, realizing the rock wasn’t as pretty as others in the bin, lowered the price to $10.
The stone has since been certified as a 1,905-carat natural star sapphire, about 800 carats larger than the previous largest stone of its kind. It was appraised at $2.28 million." (Leadership Magazine)
It pays to be observant.
Just as it is true that, when your dream comes into focus, some won’t share it, it is also true that other will! It is precisely because your dream has focus that people will be willing to join you like Timothy joined Paul. Be on the lookout for those people.
In his book, "Communiate With Power", Michael Duduit points out that one of the trends communicators need to be aware of is the fact that, "People are choosing niche churches...Churches that are growing are identifying a niche of people that they want to target and reach..."(Pp. 14-15)
Why is this true? Because people identify with something that meets their specific needs. Barnabas took Mark with him and Paul added Timothy to his team. Their dreams were alike.
The fourth outlook for adjusting the focus of your dream is this:
4. Be obedient to God’s "no’s" as well as His "yes’".
Acts 16:6-8 (NLT) Next Paul and Silas traveled through the area of Phrygia and Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had told them not to go into the province of Asia at that time. 7 Then coming to the borders of Mysia, they headed for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not let them go. 8 So instead, they went on through Mysia to the city of Troas.
As the missionaries tried to enter what is modern-day Turkey God deflected their efforts. They were doing their best to take the Good News to those who had never heard, but God was saying, "No, don’t go there. Not now."
We all wonder why God closes doors in our lives sometimes. We’ve all headed out before in what we believed to be the right direction, only to have doors closed in our face. It can be discouraging when God isn’t opening doors when we think they ought to be opened.
Why does God do that?
We need to remember something very important about God. God has impeccable timing. He’s never ahead of schedule and He’s never late. We can have confidence that God will open the right door when the time is right.
This doesn’t absolve us from the responsibility of trying to find the right door at the right time. We should do all that we can according to our understanding - just as the missionaries were doing. We simply need to learn to accept God’s "no".
One of my wife’s brothers has a daughter who, when she was a small child, seemed to have difficulty accepting being told things she could not do. She was told not to touch the stove. "Why?" she asked. Her daddy told her, "Because it’s hot." "But I like hot", was her reply.
That’s how we are with God sometimes. We have our minds made up and our lives mapped out and all we want God to do is put a rubber stamp on our plans.
There is a never a time when "trust and obey" is more important then when it comes to focusing your God-given dream.
And here’s the fifth outlook for adjusting the focus of your vision.
5. Be optimistic about the future.
In his book "Carpe Manana", Leonard Sweet gives some of his favorite definitions of an optimist.
"An optimist is a 75-year-old man, newly married, and looking for a house near an elementary school."
"An optimist is one who takes four pounds of steak, five pounds of charcoal, and one match to a picnic."
"Optimists are parents who have three teenage children and one car."
"But my personal favorite: An optimist is one who has been captured by the love of Jesus."
Without vision, life can result in pessimism. But since Christianity is a visionary faith - no one has more reason to be optimistic than the Christ follower!
When the missionaries followed God’s vision great things resulted. While they were seeing doors closed God was preparing the hearts of people to hear the Good News.
Acts 16:14-15 (NLT) One of them was Lydia from Thyatira, a merchant of expensive purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. As she listened to us, the Lord opened her heart, and she accepted what Paul was saying. 15 She was baptized along with other members of her household, and she asked us to be her guests.
The next person who came to faith in Christ was a demon-possessed girl who had been making money for others by telling fortunes. When Paul cast the demon out of her it caused those who had been exploiting her to lose money. They took their losses out on Paul and Silas by dragging them before the authorities.
Acts 16:22-24 (NLT) A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods. 23 They were severely beaten, and then they were thrown into prison. The jailer was ordered to make sure they didn’t escape. 24 So he took no chances but put them into the inner dungeon and clamped their feet in the stocks.
You might think this temporary setback put an end to the optimism of the missionaries but...
Acts 16:25-29 (NLT) Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening. 26 Suddenly, there was a great earthquake, and the prison was shaken to its foundations. All the doors flew open, and the chains of every prisoner fell off! 27 The jailer woke up to see the prison doors wide open. He assumed the prisoners had escaped, so he drew his sword to kill himself. 28 But Paul shouted to him, "Don’t do it! We are all here!"
29 Trembling with fear, the jailer called for lights and ran to the dungeon and fell down before Paul and Silas. 30 He brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, along with your entire household."
That same hour the jailer took the missionaries home, cleaned and dressed the wounds from their beating, fed them, and he and his entire family were baptized!
This was the result of following God’s focused dream!
Never lose the optimism of knowing that God is constantly at work to help us accomplish His will. If He is closing doors now, it is only because He is working to open other doors later!
Do you have a focused vision?
Are you open, objective, observant, obedient, and optimistic?
If any one of these areas need attention go to God today and confess your need for a more focused vision.
Then anticipate seeing Him do great things!
