Wednesday 12 March 2014

Walking through the mist

Today as I was out dog walking in the mist (it was mistier than this, and not frosty) I was thinking about how difficult it is to describe what my 'vision' is. Partly this is because I struggle to define myself as a 'leader', so I do not expect to need to have a vision except in terms of my personal walk with God. It also speaks of my awareness that, in my capacity as a leader, I can have all the plans in the world (and sometimes I do, too) but whether they come to fruition depends on whether they accord with God's will and whether the church feels they are feasible. Maybe also I worry that having a 'vision' is a bit too close to having a 'ministry' - it seems to be more about you defining what you are going to do than listening to what God tells you to do and doing it.
As my walk continued, my route took me over an open field, and I followed a faint but unmistakable track across the field, and suddenly I knew this was what I felt vision should be like. It was so misty I could not see the end of the track, but I could get to my destination by sticking to it. So as far as I am concerned, vision is seeing where God is going and following. You do not know what is coming up beyond the next few steps, but you know it will take you home. And I remembered a quote from Dr. Martin Luther King: 'Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.' Maybe vision is seeing that track in the grass, and realising God made it, then following behind.