Mandate

Years ago, I met the India team for the first time.  It was an unusual meeting on a bright, humid day.  They did not know me nor I them.  They had no idea where I grew up, the values I held close to my heart, or the passion I had for winning at whatever I did.  While optimistic about their potential, I had no idea how intense they could be about living and excellence.  It was almost impossible to believe the depth of their commitment to innovation and change.  I never expected them to believe in the way that they did. 
 
In our first encounter, they began to tell me about their dreams.  They knew they could be more than they were.  Candidly, I already knew this.  As I explained the size of my dreams, I still feel their eyes growing wide, their hearts racing, and the intensity in the room growing.  I was confident. 
 
In hindsight, I never imagined, even in my wildest dreams, how far they would go.  I failed to see the heights they would climb.  I saw their adolescence but I did not anticipate their emergence as serious, engaged, and maturing adults.  As a parent, I watched with anticipation, fear, and wonder.  The outcome was mind blowing.  I was beyond stunned; shocked, proud beyond description, and honored to have been there at the beginning.
 
In that moment and now, I have a glimpse of how God sees you and I.  God knows what we can become.  God understands which can happen.  God sees, as I could not.  To anyone that will listen, the words spill out as a mandate for our  lives; “That's not a big enough job for my servant—just to recover the tribes of Jacob, merely to round up the strays of Israel.  I'm setting you up as a light for the nations so that my salvation becomes global!”  (Isaiah 49.7) 
 
Today is our opportunity to realize our belief.  We can be all that God imagines us to be.  We can walk with Hope.  It is our true destiny.