What do you have planned for the new year?  Maybe you’re like me this year and lack any sort of plans. Look, I had things planned for 2020, and we got a pandemic that shut everything down for two years. I started planning again for 2022 and not only did the pandemic continue, but there was a terrible war in Ukraine and runaway inflation. I’m not planning anything. Is that a mistake?

Chicago architect Daniel Burnham is remembered as the author of The Plan of Chicago. Published in 1909, it provided a vision for the organizing of the city. As a whole, the plan was never implemented, although some features of it were incorporated into the city. What was significant was that he had a vision for what was possible.

I have long been an advocate of churches having a vision for their future and that the vision should guide its activities, finances, and plans. It’s a Biblical notion. Abraham was given a vision of being the father of nations. Moses had a vision of a promised land. The prophets had a vision for people in exile that someday they would return home. None of them had a complete plan, only a vision.

What do we have? The vision that Jesus gave us of the reign of God. It’s a vision that includes the blessing of the poor, the hungry, the grieving and the persecuted. I don’t know exactly how to achieve that but I know I have to work toward it, plan or not.

Do you have a vision?

Read Proverbs 29:18 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne