God has a Vision

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:2-3

This is my third time to bring you out to this site.  Back when I first came here they were starting to tear down the building that once stood there. I wrote about how God tears down in order to build us up new.  A couple of months later, I brought you out here to show you the slow and steady progress they were making – a reminder that God’s work in our lives takes time.  Now here we are again.  The big building is gone.  They are moving dirt around, preparing a foundation, getting ready to build something new here.  Looking at this sign it looks like they will be building some kind of classroom building or dormitory here for the nearby University.  That’s what amazes me.  I look at this field and see just some piles of dirt.  The architect and builders look and they see the building that will eventually stand here.  I really admire people who can do that… who can look at this empty piece of land and imagine something entirely different standing here.

Our God is like that, a God with a vision.  In Genesis 2 he looked at a pile of dirt and had vision of what that dirt could become. He formed that dirt into a man and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.  The dirt man became a living man.  But God’s vision for that dirt went way beyond creating Adam.  He had a vision for a whole human race.  Wow.  Think of the story of Abraham.  He was old.  His wife was barren.  What more could be made out of their lives? But God could see what He could do.  He saw whole nations coming from this unlikely couple. He saw the savior of the world coming from their offspring.  Then He turned that vision into reality.  Think of David, the youngest son of Jesse.  When Samuel came looking for the next King of Israel, David seemed such an unlikely choice that Jesse didn’t even bother to call him in from tending the sheep.  Yet God knew what He could do with David and He did it. He formed and shaped David to be a slayer of Giants, Israel’s greatest king, a man after God’s own heart and the one through whom God would give a King who would rule forever.

I know that sometimes you look at yourself and I look at myself and we wonder, “What would God want with someone like me?  How could God make anything meaningful out of my life?”  I want you to remember these stories from the Scripture. These were the most unlikely people for God to choose.  Yet He did.  That’s the way He is.  He chooses the lowly and through them does great work.  He looked at that pile of dirt, at old Abraham, at runt of the litter David and had a vision of what He could do in and through them. 

He looks at you and me the same way. Yes we are sinners. Yes we make a mess of things.  But He is a God who can do great things with the small and weak.  He wants to do His great work in and through you and me?  How do I know? He gave Jesus that we might be His.  He adopted us into His family at baptism.  He called us to faith.  He has poured out His gifts on us.  He has a plan for you, and for me.  What do you do with that?  You put yourself in His hands.  Like Abraham You go when He calls –even if you don’t know where He is leading. All you need to know is that He is leading.  Like David, when you stray, you ask forgiveness and continue to follow.  He is a God with a vision, a vision of what He can do in and through you and me.