Day 3 is all about Envisioning Your Impact.
Imagine one of your recipients for a moment. What is your ultimate hope for them? What would be the ideal change that could happen in their lives?
Imagine boldly. Nothing is beyond possibility with God.
Take for example my first church. Almost twenty-five years ago, I preached in a small rural church with an average attendance of thirty-two members. I use to come home after work and lay down in our guest bedroom and imagine what it would be like for forty people to be in worship. I would vividly picture every detail: where they stood, what they were wearing, how differently hymns sounded with forty voices, new faces in the choir, the warmth of shaking hand after hand at the back door after worship, etc.
I would lift that image as a prayer to God. I did so again and again. I’ll never forget my last Sunday there. Can you guess what happened? As I looked out on the congregation I found myself staring at exactly forty people in worship. I felt like it was an affirmation that my work was done.
Since that time I’ve discovered that envisioning your impact or in other words the RESULT you’re striving toward offers many benefits. RESULT is the third “R” in your purpose diagram.
Knowing the result you’re hoping for…
1. Creates direction. Imagine jumping in a car for a trip but not having a clue where you’re going. You can expend a lot of effort going nowhere if you don’t clearly know your destination.
2. Equips you to share your vision so that other people can participate.
3. Gives you a reference point for evaluating your progress.
4. Offers a powerful way to lift your hope to God in prayer. Think about how many times God spoke in the Bible through visions. If God pours visions into the hearts of people, why not lift visions to God. (I’ll say a lot more about prayer in our live Facebook today.)
5. Motivates perseverance. The result that you hope for is what I call the “why” behind the “what”. In short, “I’m helping my recipient SO THAT this benefit will occur. Your vision is your hope…and hope keeps us moving. Weak vision will usually equates to weak commitment.
TODAY’S EXERCISE
ACTION STEP #1 Imagine the ultimate outcome for one of your recipients and offer that image to God as a prayer.
Use all of your senses. Though I am using the word “image” which is a visual word, don’t forget to engage all of your senses. Imagine any smells, tastes, textures, sounds, that you might associate with the ultimate result. You might also include feelings as well.
For example, let’s say you are deeply concerned about estranged family members. Imagine the two family members not just saying they are sorry to each other, but picture them sharing a favorite meal. Picture the light of care in their eyes, feel the joy in laughing together about a funny story shared as they eat, smell and taste the meal before them, feel the warmth of a hug when they greet. You get the idea. Have fun with this.
Lastly, even though I labeled this “Envisioning Your Impact” you don’t have to limit your ideal outcome to just the part you play. Imagine the big picture ultimate outcome. Later we can look at what part you can play in making that happen. Your role may be very tiny. Nevertheless, your role may be a critical link in a long chain of events. If even one link is missing the chain is incomplete. Don’t undervalue your part AND don’t limit your hope to only what you can do. Imagine what God can do, and then God will guide you to the part you can play.
ACTION STEP #2 Share in the private Facebook group your hope for a recipient.
You don’t have to go crazy writing up all of the sensory stuff (though that would be awesome if some of you decide to do so), but do please share with us your hope. Then we can join you in lifting that prayer and encourage one another.
Click here to post in comments.
Lastly, have fun with this and joyfully anticipate what God might do. I leave you with one of my favorite verses from Ephesians,
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21
Well that’s it for Day 3. I’ll be LIVE on Facebook at 11am (CDT) Wednesday reviewing this lesson and answering questions about your ROLE. Click here to join me at that time.
Blessings,
John Arnold
The Practical Disciple
PS: I did not create a work sheet for today’s exercise. You can do all of this with your imagination.
PPS: Tomorrow you get to write your purpose statement. Woohoo!