Acts 26:19 “And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven. NLT
In the early days of our ministry, so many thoughts ran through my mind. One of such thoughts was to pioneer a church in a good location somewhere in Lagos. I thought to myself that if i pioneer a church, i'll have a financial base to support our outreaches and to support myself because things were rough financially. Any time I drive around certain areas in Lagos or I hear about those places, something within tells me to act. A wealthy acquaintance who resided in one of those areas once insinuated that I open a church. He cited how some how some young guys in ministry were doing fine. I knew he would fund the start up if I had obliged.
Later, I was troubled about this whole idea. I told my mentor in missions. He listened to me patiently. At the end of our conversation, he asked a very simple question: "What did God tell you in the beginning"? At the start of my ministry, the instruction was clear. I knew what I was planning in my heart was not included in the details given to me by God. When God gives a vision to you about what he want you to do, stick to it without adding or subtracting from it. The idea running through my heart was belly- driven and i was battling with acceptance problem. You know it makes 'sense' when someone introduce himself as the senior Pastor of a church than to say you're a missionary evangelist who goes round doing outreaches. So many times, I've had people ask, "you're under which church / is your ministry a church"?
In this part of the world, most ministers believe that every calling must end in pioneering a church. That's a great error. There are evangelists, teachers,prophets, who left their calling to pioneer a church and sit over it as a Pastor (against God's instruction) because to them, being in ministry without leading a church is not enough. This error has made many lose their ministry. We all should be able to speak like Paul before God and men saying: "I obeyed that vision from heaven'. God is given to details that is why he told Moses in Ex 25:40, "Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain". God's pattern for the vision he gave you may not be popular or attractive, please stick to it.
Father, I receive the grace to obey the heavenly vision I received and to stick to the pattern given to me in Jesus name.