Game plans

"What's the game plan? What are you going to do next?" I've been asked by a few different people what I'm going to do now that I've stepped down as women's ministry champion. I'm guessing they figure since I've left one thing, I must be headed to something else. And yet, they also reason that as a mother of four, I must be so busy that it is better that I simplify where I can.

I come from a rich heritage of project people. We thrive on productivity -- driven and determined to get things done. I don't know how true it is, or where Todd learned this, but he says my family is like sharks -- if we sit still we die. I'm quite certain that my worth for many years was determined by how much or how well I could accomplish. I earned approval by working hard and striving (or should I say pushing?) for my best. In recent years, God has been rooting out that works righteousness, freeing me from a lifetime of bondage. I still love to get things done, but my favorite moments are when I can slow down, read, study, reflect, write, pray.

Churches today want to cast a vision. Todd interviewed at a church after seminary that asked, "How will we know in six months that you have been here?" We emphasize programs, numbers, and results. We make a plan to make it happen. It sounds like a noble goal, to be purposeful, intentional, and headed somewhere. The question is, where? (Do we sometimes hit the ground running, and leave God behind in our dust?)

When Phil Vischer was asked where he wants to be in five years, he said, "In the center of God's will. If I have given Lordship to Jesus Christ, where I am in five years is no business of mine."

Here is what Phil taught on that spoke a powerful, convicting message:

The people of God are a covenant people, a people of the Word. We are not called to be a people of vision, we are called to be a people of revelation. It is not about strategic planning for our vision for our ministries. When people of great faith in the Bible don't know what to do, what God wants for them, they don't "do" anything. They WAIT on HIM.

When the people of God don't have the Word of God, they do whatever is right in their own eyes. Not because we haven't cast our visions large enough or we don't have enough programs, but because we are not focusing the people of God on the Word of God. We need to keep our nose in His Word every day, our knees on the ground in prayer, and be quiet enough to hear His whispers. Without it, we can't be obedient to Him because we won't know what He wants us to do.

Don't confuse the work you do for God with your relationship with God. What is the most important thing? To make God the most important thing. Pursue God. Read His Word and pray. No big agenda. No planning for the next big thing to do. Not getting busy for God. Walk with God, wait on God, and "when God needs someone at a specific time in history to advance His will in a specific way, He knows who to call because He knows who is listening."

This talk that Phil gave affirmed the answer I gave to the ones who asked me what was next. My response was, "I don't know. God hasn't told me yet." No plans. Just a desire to be in the center of His will.