What comes to mind when you think of God’s vision for your life and becoming the servant leader He created you to be? I believe He has called you to bear much fruit and to be a shining light in this world. Ultimately, your purpose is to be a reflection of Jesus and to do so, you must know the vision God has called you to.
Leadership Starts with Vision
There are many great illustrations of this in the Bible. One of the best is the story of Nehemiah and the vision God gave him to restore his city. God provided the vision and worked through Nehemiah to accomplish His plans. The people scoffed at Nehemiah when he originally shared the plan because it seemed impossible. But once the city was restored, they knew that it could have only been accomplished through the power of God. Nehemiah 6:15-16
Knowing & Living Your Vision
It’s easy to lose focus on your God called vision through the grind of our daily lives. Here are some tips to both recognize and live out your vision to its fullest:
- Spend time in daily reflection to discern what God has put on your heart. We can head out on our own and build plans, but true fruitfulness will come when we are listening to God and carrying out the vision he has put within you.
- Enlarge and execute upon the vision. Acknowledge and use the gifts, talents and resources that God has given you. God does not want us sitting on our gifts, but instead actively using them in service to others. Matthew 25:14-30
- Bring others into the journey. Increase your effectiveness and power for achievement by recruiting others to use their talents and gifts to succeed in the vision together. Start by building relationships and work on building and maintaining trust. Set the foundation and then empower people to accomplish great things in this world; this is true servant leadership!
- See risk as your friend to embrace; comfort and safety as your enemy to push away. All great things in history have come about through leaders taking risk. Your vision should be permanently hinged to risk. When you see things as challenging and laden with risk, you will rely on God’s power to work through you to accomplish great things. Increase your pain threshold! It will insure that you stay connected to God and with God all things are possible.
Trust in the vision God has placed in your heart. You have a unique purpose that only you can accomplish and an impact on the world that only you can fulfill. Don’t allow anyone to distract you from your vision and don’t let the fear of risk stop you from moving forward. Step out now and begin your journey of becoming the servant leader that God created you to be!
God’s blessings to you as you begin or continue your journey!
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. Hebrews 12:1-2
This is something I have struggled with all my life. I found that reading the Bible and seeking to learn from scripture at least brought me peace in knowing I was focused on what God wants, not what a program said I should be. Your tips are right on target. I sometimes wonder if I have taken advantage of risk or got to comfy in my safety zone.
That last sentence should say: I sometimes wonder if I have taken advantage of risk or gotten too comfy in my safety zone.
Sometimes technology is not my friend.
Jane, I think we all wonder if we have played it too safe. God wants us to push the limits but as you know He will always be there to help us through the challenge. Thanks so much for your insights!
Great blog article Mark! I look forward to seeing you at your book launch! Keep up the important and meaningful work that you do.
Thanks so much Steve. I really look forward to seeing you next Thursday at the Book Launch Gathering as well. It should be a really fun evening! Thank you for your diligence in spreading the word of servant leadership through your awesome work at Gould Brothers Exhibition Shooting! You are making a huge impact!