You especially noted that after all these years of ministry, you don't know of anyone becoming a Christian through your work. Looking back over my own life and ministry, I would say that one of my greatest weaknesses has also been trying to figure things out on my own without taking the time to be alone with God and opening myself to what He wants to teach me.
The Heart of a Servant Leader, p52
What I would stress then is that a man of vision gets his vision only in and through prayer. Only prayer with a goal of glorifying God at any cost can give God's vision to a man or a woman. I covet this for myself - and for you.
I would encourage you to remember that such a desire for vision is already a gift of the Lord, and what He has begun to give He wants to increase. Hindrances there are. One of these happens to be reservations in our hearts about the nature and character of His will for our lives. We secretly suspect that His will might be more demanding, more crucifying of our desires, than we can handle. But daily surrender to His will as you pray, and it will bring a freedom from anxiety that you cannot believe.
The Heart of a Servant Leader, by C John Miller, p25.
But whatever grace Abraham has is elusive for
most of us. Abraham had a spiritual
vision that allowed him to see beyond the eleventh hour, but the rest of us
live with reading glasses that exaggerate what is in front of us and blur
everything beyond three feet.
Running Scare p89
In the wilderness story, God tells us up front
that he is the God of suspense. In the
course of that story, he assures us that there will be times when we feel
surrounded, facing insurmountable odds with no apparent way out. That, in fact, is part of his good plan for
us. He also tells us that he will bring
us to the end of our cleverness because that is when we are most apt to
acknowledge his strong hand alone.
Running Scared, p84
