Hi everyone,
I have been thinking lately on one of the things that many human beings have in common. And that is dreams. Most of us have aspirations and goals that we would like to achieve in life. Things that we want to do someday, places we want to see, milestones that we want to reach. We often have this picture in our heads of where we see or would like to see our life go. There is a reason why there is the "American Dream" because we live in a country that encourages dreams, is home to dreams, and gives the freedom to make those dreams happen. Now dreams are a fine thing but I have been opened to a new outlook on this matter. A matter that can greatly affect the health of our spiritual life. When I look back at all the "dreams" I have had in the past, I have been led to ask myself some important, honest questions and to examine myself, my motives, and my commitment to following God.
How much time do we spend absorbed in our plans, our wishes, and our desires for our lives?
How much time do we spend wishing for the next stage or accomplishment in our lives that we fail to see what God has for us right where were are at? Our plans can easily get misconstrued as God's plans. We expect God to put us where our "dreams" are. But maybe His dreams are smack dab in front of our faces and we choose to have "selective seeing". And the time we waste convincing ourselves that we always have to get somewhere when He actually needs us to do something right now, right here. When I graduated college I had all these plans and wishes. I could see exactly where I wanted my life to go. Needless to say it didn't go at all like I pictured. I fought it for a while and then learned the hard way to become at peace with being back where God wanted me to be. Now as I look around at my life and all that has happened in the past three years, I wouldn't change a single thing. The people, the places, and the things I have right here, mean the world to me. There are many things I truly believe I would never even be doing right now if it wasn't for God wrecking my plans.
And I am asking you to come and let Him wreck yours. I was so certain my dreams were within His will, but somewhere along the line my will overshadowed His. It is only until we come to a place of complete surrender and truly leave our desire out of it from a pure love for God and what He wants us to do that we can truly see what He wants. If we truly love Him we will abandon all of self just to do His will. This is much harder than it seems and you may find out, as I have. It really makes you come to grips with if you really love Him "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." Deut. 6:5 (ESV) Because it isn't always going to be what we want to hear. It may not be the state or the country we wanted to live in. It may not be the exact career path we wanted to take, it may not be the house with the picket fence we wanted to live in, it may not be the spouse and children we wanted after college, it may not be at all what we imagined. But if it's what God has for us, it is the best we can possibly have. I am continually learning that God's timing is perfect. His plans are perfect. (Ps. 18:30) He sees the bigger picture. Have you ever had to keep a secret from someone? You knew something that they didn't and it was this exciting thing in store for them and it just wasn't the right time to tell them yet? Perhaps they were going alone in their daily lives completely unaware of what was in store. Imagine the joy of the person finally being able to tell them of the exciting news at the right and perfect time, not to mention of the joy of the receiving person. I believe God has much joy when He share us His plans at the just perfect moment He has set for us. Now the question is how do we react? Do we react with joy, recognizing His perfect timing or do we complain about how it isn't the way we wanted things to go? Do we thank Him for His wisdom and protection in our lives or do we angrily stomp off like a child and pout? If I had went through with my plans I am convinced I would probably be in a heap of discontentment and struggle right now. And in coming back to a life I thought I didn't want has turned out to be the biggest blessing in my life so far with so much hope for the future. I have new dreams. But I am trying to make sure they are God's dreams. Often we can see dreams as these big grandiose plans that noticeably change the world. Or they can be dreams that what we think, will make our lives the best they can be. We often see our dreams as something we are ever chasing after, trying to achieve, when what if they are right here, right now, underneath our noses? Now it isn't wrong to have plans or things to aspire to, but I think the problem is when we become so absorbed in those plans that we fail to see the happiness and purpose that we have right in front of us. God may have a job for us and we are too busy with our head in clouds about the next step in the 5 year life plan. We need to stop using the days as a means to accomplish what we want. We need to use them to accomplish what God wants. We need to stop using the days to forward our big plans and spend the time forwarding God's plans. "Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me" Matt. 16:24
I look around and see so many people just living to make it through the day. They live unintentionally. And I have been guilty as well. I have gotten so focused on what I want my life to be 5-10 years from now that I have forgotten about where I am right now. I am not thinking about how I can live "intentionally" right now, which will actually prepare me for what God really has in store for the future, not the one I have conjured up in my head. My plans have to fully die so that His can grow, otherwise mine will always distort the truth because that is just pure human nature. We as individuals can want something so much, for what seems like all the right reasons, that we can utterly convince ourselves that something is the "will of God" when it not. We have to be careful and seek His understanding daily and constantly die to ourselves and get to the point where we truly want His will even if it nothing that we would have chosen or wanted to choose for ourselves. (James 1:5) When we have ideas that pop into our heads we must test them against Scripture. We can not base them off of feelings alone. We have to pray and continually seek out God's guidance to make things clear to us. And to recognize that every day that we get to live and breath is a dream. Every moment to make a difference in someone else's life is a dream, every chance we get to teach the next generation is a dream, every laughter and moment we get to spend with loved ones and friends is a dream, every little accomplishment that God gives us the strength to achieve is a dream. And there a hundreds perhaps thousands of little dreams to come true around the corner if we simply learn to enjoy the life He has set before us right here, right now. Don't spend so much of your life chasing the pie in the sky when it might just be disguised amongst all the mundane details of every day life. Look around you and pay attention to those details, embrace them and love them and I am certain God will show you the plans He has for you! (Jer. 29:11) And you can trust that they will be the very best! (Eph. 3:20) So, won't you let Him wreck your dreams and help you to recognize the ones right He has right before you? ;)
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