Yesterday I heard a leader at Elim Fellowship say, “If you’re not leading toward something, you’re losing ground.” It made me think about all the posts I write on this blog about planning and seeking God for the future. This goes right along with Proverbs 29:18 that says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish…”
Early on in my marriage I found that my wife was always looking to fix things and better our relationship. While I wanted our marriage to be great, I felt like it was already pretty good. I thought we were happy and I was content to keep doing things the way we had been. We would get into “discussions” because she felt like things needed to be improved on and I was sick of her trying to fix things all the time when it seemed like there was nothing that needed fixing.
Later on we found out that Cheryl’s need to fix things was typical of someone with her personality type. However, during this process she said something that really stuck with me. In the midst of one of these conversations she said something like,
“Satan doesn’t want our marriage to succeed. If we’re not working to get stronger, then we’re getting weaker.”
I think the very same thing is true of your ministry. Satan doesn’t want to see it succeed. He doesn’t want to see the Kingdom of God advancing on your campus. If you’re not actively looking to improve, regularly seeking God’s guidance, and leading toward something, then you’re losing ground. So, this is the last time I’ll post about planning over the winter break, but I want to encourage you to make sure that you’re leading toward something.
Every year the BASIC staff takes time to stop and pray over BASIC’s direction as we go into the new year. Some of the best ideas that we’ve had have come out of those prayer times. This is also something that Cheryl and I are looking to start regularly doing for our family.
I challenge you to make sure that you are leading toward something in your ministry and family going into this new year! None of us want to lose ground as we seek to advance God’s Kingdom.