By Rae Lynn DeAngelis
Have you ever taken time to look back and view life’s ups and downs from heaven’s perspective? It’s an important practice for all of us. Why? Because the enemy is very good at making us forget the good and remember the bad. I don’t know about you, but my flesh nature tends to focus on the negative by default. Seeing the positive takes more intentionality.
In my last post, God-Sized Dreams,I began sharing a portion of my journey and how as the founder of Living in Truth Ministries, God gave me a bigger than I could possibly imagine vision to grow the ministry, not only on a national scale, but globally. Our new mission was titled LITM’s 20/20 Vision.
As far as I could see, it was impossible. We are a small, mostly volunteer-based non-profit organization with little funds in our bank account. Growth to that level would take a lot more workers and money.
Or would it?
All things are possible with God as He takes our little and turns it into much in ways we never expect. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).
In early 2020, I was gearing up for another season of Eyes Wide Open groups hosted through our church. Then Covid hit, and life as we knew it shut down. Our in-person groups were not allowed to take place. So, we, along with the rest of the world, had to pivot. We decided to host our groups through online video conferences. What looked like a dam stopping the river flow, turned out to be a channel to reach more women. Since we were no longer bound by geographic location, we were able to open our healing groups to women throughout the United States.
Let that sink in. God used a pandemic to transform our local ministry into a national ministry.
God’s ways are higher! “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9).
Our 20/20 mission vision was halfway there. Encouraged and ignited by God’s goodness and faithfulness, we turned our prayers towards reaching women globally. During a brainstorming session of one of our leadership team meetings, someone suggested we reach out to YouVersion (an organization that already had a global presence) to see about creating a Bible plan for them. Since it was Melody’s idea, she sent the email inquiry.
After some time, we received a response from the YouVersion team. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the news we were hoping to receive. YouVersion kindly thanked us for reaching out but explained they were not currently accepting new partners.
Sometimes, that’s how it goes. You knock on a door, but it doesn’t open. We didn’t know why it didn’t open, but we trusted God’s higher ways and kept moving forward, planting seeds in the ground the Lord had already given us.
One year later, out of the blue, we received an email from YouVersion asking if we were still interested in submitting a plan. They explained that they had hired and trained new staff so they could partner with more organizations.
Three years and seven bible plans later God continues to expand our outreach. To date, Living in Truth Ministries has reached tens of thousands of people. And our outreach has stretched across 190 countries.
And just like that our 20/20 vision was realized. And it was all accomplished through God’s unexpected ways.
Now it’s your turn. Take inventory of your life. Where are you currently and which people, experiences, and steps did God use to get you there? Reflect and reminisce about what God has done in unexpected ways and then tell someone about it. Not only will it increase your faith, but it will increase other’s faith too.
“What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people” (Psalm 116:12-14).
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Looking for a way to connect with God daily? Check out our daily devotional books: Living in Truth Day by Day *** Living in Truth Mind, Body, Spirit *** Living in Truth: A Christmas Devotional