www.nextwaveonline.com
Leadership & Life
Future-Casting Through The Promise Of God
Mal Fletcher
Winning the Battle for Influence - Part 4
Why do some Christians focus on the past, when real influence comes through engaging with the future? What does it mean to be truly prophetic? What is the relationship between the promises of God and influence? What are the characteristics of a real promise from God?
'I think there is a world market for maybe five computers.'
(Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943.)
'There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.'
(Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp.,1977.)
'Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons.'
(Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949.)
'We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.'
(Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.)
'Everything that can be invented has been invented.'
(Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, US Office of Patents, 1899.)
I don't have to tell you that these people got it wrong - bigtime! They spoke too soon. Because they were not focused on the future, they were quickly overtaken and surprised by it. They were made redundant by their own ignorance.
Real influence does not come from our ability to celebrate the past, or even enjoy the present. It comes from our ability to see and shape the future.
Christians should be most forward thinking people on earth, because we follow a future-minded Lord. Hebrews 12:2 says, 'Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.' (NIV) Another version says Jesus did this, '...for the joy that was still in the future...'. With Jesus, there were never any campfire nostalgia sessions, even in the heart-breaking hours leading up to the cross. Jesus only ever had one focus: the future!
We are called to be prophetic: to point the way into God's preferred future. We are meant to lovingly but clearly call people into line with God's great plan for the future. We are supposed to point people toward God's promise.
Daniel influenced Babylon more than Babylon influenced Daniel. Why? Because Daniel became a student of the promise God had made to Israel's situation and he made that promise a prominent part of his life. He prayed on it, spoke about it and lived his life to help bring it about.
If you and I are to win the battle for influence in our Babylon, we must become students of God's promises to us. There are certain things we need to remember about God's promises:
1. God's promises are already fixed and set, in Christ!
2 Cor. 1:19-20 tells us that Jesus is the 'Yes' to all God's promises, for us. It's through Jesus that we can inherit the benefits of our salvation. As long as we are in Christ, we are sure to inherit all God has promised. The promise won't fail, only your resolve can fail.
2. God's promises for our future are often hinted at in our past
In 1 Sam 17: 32, 36-37, David took a bold initiative facing Goliath, based on past experience. He had seen God deliver a lion and a bear into his hands, so he knew God would deliver the giant to him. With the lion and the bear, God was saying to David: 'This is what your future will look like. You will be a man of victory in battle.' Sometimes, seeing God's promise to us is partly about looking back over our shoulder, to see what he's done through us in the past.
3. God's promises require determination and tenacity
In absence of any new promise from God, we must make a determined, decisive stand based on what God has already told us. Many Christians, hungry for new direction from the Lord, don't get 'the word' they want when they want it, so they shut all systems down. That's wrong. God's promises come to Christians in motion! People who are getting on with whatever it was God last told them to do!
4. God's promises are interactive
Hebrews 11 tells us that the great Bible heroes of faith reached out and 'obtained' the promises of God. The word used there means to 'reach out and take as our own.' The Internet is packed with very helpful resources. People use them all the time to add value to their lives and work. But to benefit from those resources, we must go online. When we hook up the net we reach out and download the resources into our situation. It's the same with God's promises: we must hook up by acts of faith, by making room for the promise to happen, and 'download' the promises God has made.
5. God's promises carry you through the tough times
It wasn't God's command that kept Abraham going as he trudged up the mountain to sacrifice his son. They had to walk for three days to get to the top of the mountain. Abraham had three days to contemplate the apparent insanity of what God was telling him to do: to kill the very son through whom God had promised to bless him.
No, it was the promise that kept Abraham going. He said to himself, 'Hey, even if Isaac does die, and God has to raise him from the dead … I know he can do that! Because he promised to bless Isaac and to bless the world through him' (see Heb 11:19). Abraham's faith was in the promise, not the call. It's the promise that keeps you going when times get tough.
If we're going to win the battle of influence in our world, we must each learn to hold onto God's promises, allowing them to push us into a future where our faith redefines what is 'normal'.
© Mal Fletcher 2003
www.nextwaveonline.com