You Can’t Skip The Process
We all have dreams for our lives. Whether it is to work for a desired company, get married, have children or start our own business; we all know what it is like to desire something that we do not have. Our heart’s desires are placed there by God, for a reason and a purpose. When life doesn’t resemble our dreams that is when the true spiritual work begins.
It is very difficult in our society to balance this spiritual growth with cultural norms. Our culture believes we can achieve anything we want if we just work hard, meet the right people, have the right plans and get put in the right place. Those things encapsulate what is known as “our ability”. However, how do we fulfill a God given desire with the parameters of “our ability”? The answer is we don’t. See things like working hard, meeting the right people, having the right plans and being in the right place are all well and good but one thing we don’t realize is that God is not limited to our grind. God is not on our time schedule, He doesn’t work within in the rules of our society, He doesn’t not bless us according to the way we think we should be blessed.
This is a hard pill to swallow if you are an A-typer like myself. I set goals, make plans, remain disciplined, network and then boom the goal is finished - I AM BLESSED #POW. Yes, I have a litany of different goal reaching things I have achieved in my life that were awesome and wonderful, but it is those deep seeded God given dreams that I find that can’t be reached with the same rationale. As I look over the course of my life the moments when God has turned up and blessed me in a way that I only knew was Him, were moments where I had to take a seat. They were moments where I had to remain faithful to the little that God had given me, not knowing how or when my prayer was going to get answered. I remember I was working at my current job in a clerical position which I was very over qualified for since I have an advanced degree. I struggled so much, with very little salary and just heartache because I couldn’t understand why God would have me there. I went on a bunch of job interviews and nothing was panning out. I was so unhappy, and I remember God saying so clearly to me that I needed to submit to the situation and be content. Within months of deciding to do my job with joy and stop worrying, a position opened up right in that very company where I would be leading the entire organization- and I got it! At the time I couldn’t see the complete picture of what God was doing but I am thankful that I trusted His guidance and allowed Him to prepare me for what was to come.
As excited as I was to see God work this way in my life, I still struggle with waiting on God to manifest my dreams. It is easy in the throws of everyday life to get discouraged, to want to go out ahead of God, or to be bitter and unmotivated until it happens. However, we can’t get mad at what we can’t control and furthermore God has entrusted us with something right now we need to be faithful in. If you are looking for a promotion as a boss be an excellent employee; if you are looking for your dream home make your apartment a sanctuary; if your desire is for children why not give selflessly to children who are in need or don’t have a home; if you dream of having a big ministry why not be faithful in the aspects of that ministry God gives you everyday; if you are looking to get married why not hang out with some lonely people to bring them joy … There are so many opportunities God puts around us to prepare us for what is in our hearts. If we focused on what we CAN do and give God what we CAN’T we will remain fulfilled. We won’t have to compare, get mad or lose our joy when things don’t go our way because our dreams are not in our hands they are in His.
This reminds me of Joseph in Genesis chapter 37. From the time Joseph was sold into slavery at 17 (Genesis 37:2) to the time he was appointed at age 30 by Pharaoh to be second in command over all of Egypt (Genesis 41:1) was a total of 13 years. Years he spent with an awesome gift in exile, being lied about and serving time in jail. All situations from the outside that looked dismal but to God looked like preparation. So don’t fret- be encouraged! Stop focusing on your circumstances or how far you are from your dream, place your dream in His loving hands and allow Him to work.
How have you allowed God to take care of your dream? How are you remaining faithful in the task you have at hand? Share you story in the comments and encourage someone!