You might have heard the story of how my father and mother started Lakewood Church in 1959 in an old, rundown, abandoned feed store. They had 90 members. A few years later, my father named the church, Lakewood International Outreach Center. He put a big blue sign out front. The sign cost more than the building. The truth is, they were not an international outreach center. They were a small neighborhood church with 90 people. But when my father drove up to that building and saw that sign, his vision was being increased. He was moving toward it. Every week when those 90 members saw that sign again and again, something was being birthed on the inside. Seeds of increase were taking root. Do you know what Lakewood is today? An international outreach center, touching the world! He called it like he saw it in the spirit, and it came into being.
Growing up, my father always kept a globe on his desk at home. At the old church, there was a big world map on the wall. Daddy had a globe behind him when he spoke. He always had the world on his mind. At one conference, people came from 150 different countries—it looked like the United Nations! What am I saying? What you keep in front of you, you are moving toward. Now let me challenge you: Don't have a small vision for your life. You are not inconveniencing God by believing big. In fact, it's just the opposite. When you believe to do something great, when you believe to set a new standard for your family, when you take the limits off of God and say, "God, I don't see a way, but I know You have a way, so I'm going to believe You in spite of my circumstances," that's faith that pleases God.
My father could have put on that sign, Lakewood Community Church. There's nothing wrong with that. But God had placed something bigger in his heart. He could have just looked at the circumstances. We're just 90 people. We've got this old rundown building. We don't have any influence, any connections. We'll never do anything great. If he would have thought that, we wouldn't be here today.
Remember, it doesn't matter what things look like in the natural, we serve a supernatural God. He is not limited by your resources, your education, your background or your nationality. And if you will keep a big vision in front of you, God will not only do what you're dreaming about, but He'll supersize it. He'll do more than you can ask or think! Call it like you see it and watch His faithfulness bring to pass every dream and desire in your heart!
"You will also decree a thing, and it will be established for you; and light will shine on your ways." (Job 22:28, NASB)