How often do we make our plans only to have them suddenly come crumbling down. But what if our crashing plans is part of God’s purposes to direct us onto the path He has for us? Certainly that is one perspective if we look at our life through the lens of Proverbs 16:9, which states that “We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.”
Nothing could ring truer of this verse than Richard Stearns’ life, which is truly a classic story of man’s big plans being rerouted by God’s bigger blessings.
On this episode of the More to Be Podcast, I chat with Richard Stearns, President Emeritus of World Vision USA about the way God took him as young man determined to get into an Ivy League college and corporate success story to a man committed to Jesus, his wife, and twenty years of advocating for the orphaned, the widowed, the sick, and the hungry. His story will renew your hope in God’s transforming work and fill you afresh with a sense of awe at how He works. Yes, my friend, God isn’t done in our stories and has not quit working in the lives of those we deeply love.
Richard Stearns currently serves as President Emeritus for World Vision U.S. after retiring at the end of 2018. He was the longest-serving president of World Vision. Stearns is the second of two children of working-class parents in Syracuse, New York. He worked his way through Cornell University, earning a bachelor’s degree in neurobiology in 1973. After receiving a master’s degree in business administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, Stearns began a career in marketing for several Fortune 500 companies. In 1998, Stearns accepted the role of President at World Vision US. He has traveled to more than 40 of the nearly 100 countries where World Vision works. His wife Renee, a lawyer by training, also travels and speaks on behalf of World Vision. The couple has five children. In 2021 he published his latest book, Lead Like it Matters to God: Values-Driven Leadership in a Success-Driven World.
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Truths to Remember
I needed to have all of my questions answered — science, evolution, apologetics, etc. before I could step out in faith. – Richard
Failure deepens your character and as a believer, it deepens your relationship with the Lord. – Richard
It is not about your will. It is about His will. It is not about your ambitions. It is about God’s ambitions for you. He needs you to be totally submitted and available to him. – Richard
How can I love you, know you, and serve you Lord, even when my life feels like chaos? – Lisa
My real job was to be an ambassador for Christ. – Richard
God is making his appeal to the world through you . – Richard
Ephesians 4:16 NLT
We are often looking for our calling to manifest in our career, but our calling is simply to embrace our salvation and make Jesus known. – Lisa
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