The visions that God creates in our hearts and minds are always beyond what we feel is possible. As Andy Stanley says, “The task always appears to be out of reach. And the reason it appears that way is because it is. God-ordained visions are always too big for us to handle. We shouldn't be surprised. Consider the source.”

The second key is to risk taking steps of faith to discover God’s vision for your life. Many of us live as though we are waiting for God to send us his vision for our life via fax, e-mail, or a supernatural revelation—spelling out the actions we are to take in step-by-step detail. We also may want this divine message to include an ironclad guarantee that we will be safe from risk, financially secure, and successful in others’ eyes as we carry out this heavenly plan for our lives.

God doesn’t usually choose to work this way. Rather, we see in the lives of great people of faith, the journeys of our clients, and in our own lives that God often calls his people by creating a mental image or compelling idea of how our gifts can be used to meet needs in the world. The vision gives enough direction for us to step out in obedience and faith, but it doesn’t give all the details or guarantees about the outcome.

God’s Plan for Your Life

God-sized visions can be of differing dimensions and degrees of visibility. God might call one person to develop a new worldwide evangelism ministry that has an impact on millions; he might call another to start an outreach Bible study in her neighborhood. In one person God might instill a vision for a nonprofit organization that uses innovative ways to collect food in the community and distribute it to local ministries. In another person, the vision God plants may be one of making his church’s food bank more organized, efficient, and effective. You don’t know today, however, what God wants to do with you in the years to come.

The story of James Dobson and his founding of Focus on the Family exemplifies how a God-sized calling can begin. Today, the nonprofit organization has a multitude of ministries, including Dobson’s internationally syndicated radio programs, which are heard daily on more than three thousand radio stations in the United States and more than ninety-five other countries. Its magazines reach millions of households. The organization has had, and continues to have, an enormous impact on people throughout the world.
 
It all started as a God-inspired vision in the mind of a man who was willing to be used. “I wish I could say that I knew where the Lord was leading when I started Focus on the Family, but that is not true,” said Dobson. “I simply felt He wanted me to prepare a regular broadcast and to speak to family-related issues.” So he stepped out in faith, renting a tiny office in Arcadia, California, to begin his radio program. “Everything that has happened since then has been a surprise and a labor of love.”