Building God’s Way: Part One

One thing that you will notice if you read your Bible long enough is that things do not happen in the same way when you have a Kingdom mindset. We know that with God, He considers the day to begin not at first light but in the evening (see Genesis 1:5). When reading scripture, we discover that God did not just begin creating. There was great care and thought in everything that He did. Seeing how God created presents us with a great template for building the things that He has placed within our hearts to build.

Begin With the End in Mind

One of the things that we discover through scripture is that God did not create saying “What should I do first? Then what should I do after that?” The book of Isaiah tells us that God “declares the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place and I will do all my will (Isaiah 46:10).” In other words, what this means is that God had an end goal in mind. He saw the end and did not begin the process of building or creating until there was a clarified, crystallized thought of that blessed end. Only then did He work to begin that process.

If you’ve ever spent any time in a business school or had someone to teach you about the process of being an entrepreneur, you’ve probably been told that you should have a vision and create both a vision and mission statement. Isn’t it interesting that in Habakkuk 2:2 we find God telling the prophet to write the vision and make it plain upon tablets? Vision statements help to describe what a company or organization hopes to accomplish over a specified period of time (sometimes 5 or more years).

Author Michael Hyatt has often suggested that one should develop a Vision Script. Where a vision statement is often a brief statement, Hyatt shares that “a Vision Script is a robust document, written in the present tense, that describes your future reality as if it were today. The trick is to step into the future and record what you see in four key areas of your business: your team, products, sales and marketing, and impact.”

There’s something powerful about seeing the end from the beginning. God told Habakkuk that the key purpose in writing the vision is so that those who see it will run. In other words, the vision becomes a catalyst for empowering, encouragement, motivation, and even acceleration.

Another thing about beginning with the end in mind is that some experts will tell you that it is always beneficial to have an exit strategy. There are some who view this as a defeatist process. However, here’s the intent of an exit strategy. The exit strategy prepares you for what could be necessary if something should happen to you as the one who started it but cannot see it through to completion; either because of death, dynamic success, merger, or takeover. What would your business, ministry, or organization look like beyond your ability to operate it? Who would lead in your absence? What changes might be necessary if a larger company sees the value in a merger or buyout?

Seeing the end from the beginning helps you to keep a focus on the direction that things should take, as well as provide specific courses of action if certain opportunities or obstacles present themselves. The goal here is to build God’s way. A great way to begin is with the end in mind.