Christopher Columbus was an alternative to the status quo: he was an over-the-horizon thinker.
He thought beyond what was seen, believing when most could not. Others simply did not think in the same way. Maybe some, for whatever reasons, just refused to think and believe at a higher level.
Ever have a challenge or opportunity before you that feels overwhelming? Of course. We all have. Over-the-horizon perspective can get you beyond it.
There is a style of thinking … and a heart-set … that goes beyond the drama that is currently in our face.
Abraham Engaged Over-the-Horizon Thinking
Abraham is a challenging standard for us. He’s also a prototype of what it means to live and journey by faith. His life-story begins in Genesis chapter 12 in the Old Testament.
- He was commissioned to walk through the land, seeing and exploring the dimensions of the inheritance he was given.
- He was called and inspired to lift his eyes to new horizons. One evening, God aked him to leave the confines of his tent and peer into the clear, Mideast night sky. Though he was childless at the time, he was promised his descendants would be as numerous as the stars.
- The super-reality of what God said trumped the lower reality of his circumstance and life-story to that point. Abraham and Sarah were spiritually-mentally-physically transformed so they would experience the design of the Creator.
See Abraham as a Touchstone
Just like Abraham, our vision can be extraordinary. We can see, not with our physical eyes, but from the inside, with the eyes of our heart or understanding. It’s a different, higher way of seeing.
Jesus said, “If therefore your eye is clear (or, healthy), your whole body will be full of light” (Matt. 6.22 NASB).
We can think at a higher level. We don’t have to continue thinking at the level of our current experience to date. Our minds can be renewed, empowering us to think beyond the horizon. Amazingly, as our thinking elevates, our emotional life also begins to change for the better. We actually begin to feel different about the future and what’s possible.
Abraham Lincoln thought and saw beyond the horizon. I don’t think we can fully appreciate the national crisis during his time. Yet, in the face of the trauma of the Civil War, Lincoln saw the freedom of American slaves and a rebirth of a united nation.
It’s also vital to change our language. Our speech must be transformed, progressively coming into alignment with a higher level of thinking and heart-belief.
With respect to the promise of God, he (Abraham) did not waver in unbelief, but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that what He had promised, He was able also to perform (Rom. 4.20-21 NASB).
Here’s how important words and language are: God changed the names of Abraham and Sarah to harmonize with their destiny.
When the Apostle Paul puts the spotlight on Abraham as a standard of faith in Romans 4, he says God “gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist” (Rom. 4.17 NASB). The Creator want us to imitate Him by using future-oriented words.
And then we must move. Faith is movement. We must make quality decisions and act in faith just as Abraham and Sarah did. “We walk by faith, not by sight” (Paul in 2 Cor. 5.7 NASB).
It can be a real challenge at times. Abraham himself certainly had his difficult days and even seasons. You can see him growing through the struggle in Genesis.
Yet, as we journey, we can experience the same dynamic in our own lives, uniquely tailored to our destiny. Be encouraged.
As with Abraham, encounters with God will initiate and sustain your movement into new things.
See the entire Abraham: Questing With God series. Abraham is a benchmark for us. He is an archetype – an original pattern of faith. We look to Abraham to see what it means to know God and to journey with Him.
