A friend told me a terrible pun: 2021 is the first time in human history where hindsight is actually 2020. Ugh…dad jokes….are the best! Even if you didn’t laugh, I think he might be onto something. Even though 2020 was a rough year for a lot of us, it still may have been the year of vision.
Remember how naive we all were when this year started.
2020 the year of vision. We all thought it was going to be the best year ever!
Then it crashed…and burned…and smoldered…and reignited…
No one imagined we would be where we are at today when 2020 started. It’s been absolute madness.
For me personally, 2020 has been the worst year of my life. I mean it absolutely crushed me. Yet as bad as it has been and how much I have absolutely hated this year, there has been hope.
2020 was the year of vision for me but unfortunately my blurry vision had to be corrected before I could see clearly.
Here’s how my vision was corrected in 2020:
I realized that am not that important
Anybody who knows me would agree that I am not that important but at the beginning of this year, I thought I was pretty important. I mean come on I was a local celebrity. I was a youth/family pastor at a local “megachurch” in town so all these people “knew” me. I rarely went somewhere and didn’t have someone recognize me.
Not only was I famous but I was a pastor as well. I mean, I worked for God which is pretty important. (I know I know this is pretty arrogant). I always felt unique since I was a pastor. I wore that title like a badge of honor. It was great to have people come to me for answers to their problems. It made me feel important and needed.
Then one day it was no more. Due to the circumstances in my life I decided to step away from pastoral position so I could focus on my own healing and my family.
And guess what…the ministry went on without me and did fine.
You know why? Because it’s not about me. It’s about God. I am simply a tool for the Master to use to accomplish his work. I forgot that. I thought I was in charge. I thought it was by my strength that the ministry continued to have success.
God humbled me so that I would bow humbly before Him and submit to His ways.
I need friends
Simply put: we were all made for community. We cannot do this life alone. I am so grateful for the support I have felt and received during these times.
Lastly, my identity must be found in Christ and Christ alone.
My identity is not pastor, dad, or husband. My identity is a beloved son of God. I am a child of God and that’s where my worth should come from. That truth never changes. He loved me before I was born. He loved when I was sinner. He loved me before I accomplished anything. He loved me when I felt like an absolute failure.
No matter what this world brings. Or what happens. I am always dearly beloved by my Father. There is nothing I can do to earn or lose that love.
“I am not loved because I am worthy but I am worthy because I am loved.”
Let end with Philippians 3:13-14:
13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
“Forgetting what is behind” -No great sprinter wins by looking back at the competition. Rather they fix their eyes on the prize so they won’t get distracted by what’s behind them. They are motivated by what’s in front of them.
“Press on” – Like the sprinter who has pushed their body to the limits but gives one more push to reach the finish line. We are to give everything we have to win the prize. The prize is the fact that God has called us his children and now we get to work with Him to share His Good News to the world.
It turns out that 2020 was the year of vision but it wasn’t the vision I had in mind. But it was the year of vision because for the first time in a long time, my vision was finally clear so I could fix my eyes on Jesus.