When the Strategy Is Not Clear Yet

Lisa and I have been talking a lot lately about the difference between having a vision and having a strategy. In some ways, vision can feel clear before the path does. You may sense where God is leading, or at least the general direction He seems to be pointing, but that does not mean you immediately know how everything is supposed to unfold.

That is where we have found ourselves with Lasting Legacy Collective and, more specifically, the marriage work we believe God has been placing in front of us. There are a few things we feel fairly clear about. We believe we are called to walk alongside couples, especially premarital and newly married couples. We believe there is something meaningful about staying connected during the first five years of marriage, not simply preparing couples for a wedding day and then sending them on their way.

But even with that sense of vision, the strategy has not felt nearly as clear. We can see pieces of it. We can see the desire to gather couples in smaller, more personal settings. We can see the value of honest conversations around marriage, communication, expectations, and what it means to keep growing together after the wedding day. But we also have to be honest that some of what we have put out there has not yet gained the kind of traction we might have expected or hoped for.

That creates a real tension. Do you keep moving forward because you believe God has given you the vision, or do you slow down because maybe the strategy is not quite right yet? How far out in front do you get? What is our part, and what is God’s part? Where is patience required, and where is obedience required?

Those are the kinds of questions we have been sitting with.

Recently, Lisa was praying about the marriage ministry and had the visual of the small lunch being offered up to God for Him to bless. Around that same time, we heard a message from 2 Kings 4, where the widow had only a small jar of oil left. Everything looked hopeless until Elisha told her to gather empty jars and begin pouring. As she obeyed, the oil kept flowing until every jar was filled.

The next weekend, we heard another message from Mark 6, where Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. Two different stories. Two different passages. But the same reminder.

God does not need much to multiply what has been offered to Him.

That has been both encouraging and challenging for us. Encouraging because it reminds us that God can do far more with what we place in His hands than we could ever manufacture in our own strength. Challenging because it also means we have to resist the urge to force a strategy simply because we want the vision to make sense faster.

There is a difference between obedience and striving. Obedience offers what we have. Striving tries to make the multiplication happen. And if we are honest, that is not always an easy distinction to make in real time. We want to be faithful. We want to move forward. We want to steward what God has placed in front of us. But we also do not want to run so far ahead that we start building something He has not actually asked us to build.

For now, the clearest thing we know to do is keep taking the next faithful step. That may not sound very strategic, but it is where we are. We are continuing to create space for couples. We are continuing to listen. We are continuing to pay attention to what resonates, what does not, and where God seems to be breathing life.

Maybe that is part of the surrender. Not needing the whole strategy before we obey. Not needing the whole picture before we offer what little we have. Not needing to know exactly how God will multiply it before we place it in His hands.

Maybe some of you are there too. Maybe there is something you feel called to, but the strategy is not clear yet. Maybe you have taken a few steps and the results do not look like what you hoped. Maybe you are wondering whether to keep going, slow down, adjust, or wait.

We do not have a clean formula for that. But we are learning to pay attention to the small lunch, the little jar of oil, and the moments where God asks us to offer what we have before we understand what He intends to do with it.

If you and your spouse are in a season where you are trying to discern what God is building in your marriage, your family, or your next season together, one of the most helpful things you can do is create space to slow down and see more clearly where you are aligned, where you are carrying tension, and how you are each processing the journey. That is one of the reasons we created the Marriage Clarity Experience.

You can learn more and start your experience here:
https://lastinglegacycollective.com/marriage-assessment