FOLLOW THE LEADERThere was an early Baptist preacher and writer in Texas by the name of
J.B. Gambrell. He humorously made the same point about the relationship
between the size of our vision and the size of the people we attract:
It is easier to do large things than little things. A great people cannot be
rallied to little things. More people, a hundred to one, will join in a bear
hunt than will turn out to kill a mouse!^11Point well made! That’s why former American President Theodore
Roosevelt said:
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even
checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither
enjoy much or suffer because they live in the great twilight that knows not
victory nor defeat.^12Spiritually speaking, this kind of God-size-vision only comes from God
through His Holy Spirit. On the day of Pentecost, Peter acknowledged
this radical alteration of their lives by quoting the Prophet Joel:
“Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see
visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both
men and women, I will pour out My Spirit in those days...” (Acts
2:17-18; Joel 2:28).
These verses remind us that we are never too young or too old to receive
a life-changing vision from the Lord. A God-given vision does not come
on the basis of our socio-economic standing, or sexual gender. Spiritual
visions are available to all of God’s people! Unfortunately, visions tend to
come to those who are younger spiritually – and begin to fade-out and
become more rare as a person ages. As John Piper says: “It is tragic when
age makes a man jaded instead of increasingly creative.”^13
We can clearly see this leadership truth about vision expressed in
Proverbs 29:18:
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” (KJV)
“Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained.” (NASV)
“For lack of vision a people lose restraint” (Tanakh, Jewish Bible)
“Where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint.” (NIV)