I’m Sorry, What?

We were bumping down the dusty village road to the widows’ ministry when our contact, Moses, asked who was  giving the word of exhortation….

cricket

cricket

cricket.

Then God told me I was…so I was like, “Oh! Yeah! I am!”

My response to God’s leading was this:

Really God? What the heck am I supposed to talk about? We are literally five minutes from being there. You think this is funny don’t you? Well. You’ve got five minutes to give me something to talk about.

hmm. Probably not the most willing attitude, eh?

Despite my attitude, God gave  me exactly what I was to say. I told them they were children of God! And because of that they had power and authority, in Jesus’ name, over the darkness surrounding them.

I challenged them to live beyond the facts of their life and in the truth of God’s Word. I asked them to choose joy. I told them that they worship the God who will supply all their needs according to His riches in Christ Jesus. I told them His ways are higher than ours and that He has dreams for them that are so much bigger than anything they have ever imagined. All they had to do was say yes to Him.

And that’s when it hit me.

I wasn’t just talking to these women. God was talking to me.

He has dreams for me that are so much bigger and greater than anything I can imagine…

yet..until now, I’ve always said no to His plans. What God asked was always too “out there.” It “went against society.”  It was so not in my plan to do anything out of the ordinary. 

At our five hour church service today….yes, five hours…the pastor talked about Joshua and the wall of Jericho.

When Joshua marched the children of Israel around Jericho once a day for six days, then seven times around on the seventh day, the people of Jericho thought he was pretty stupid…until their wall went crashing to the ground at the blast and shout of God’s people. 

So what do we learn from that? We learn that when we come against a “wall of Jericho” that we need to follow God’s leading. Regardless of how stupid or far out it seems to us, we just need to do it.

Well friends, my future is my “wall of Jericho.” And I have said no to God time and again. But, it is time for me to stop saying no. It’s time to blow the rams horn and scream at the top of my lungs. It is time to be free as the wall of fear regarding my future comes crashing down as I say yes to His plan.

I still don’t know exactly what my future looks like, but for the first time I just want God’s dreams for me to be my dreams. I want to be a Kingdom dreamer. And right now that dream is being shaped. God sees me in the future, and I look much better than I look right now.

The unknown is scary, but exciting at the same time. There is something beautiful about lacking control. There is something inspiring about saying yes to the Maker of the Universe.

He knows the plans he has for me! They are plans to prosper me and not to harm me! Plans to give me HOPE and a FUTURE.

Now that verse isn’t just something to recite just “because it’s true.”

Now it is a beautiful promise from my Daddy that loves me so much! And because He loves me, He wants more for me than I could ever imagine.

I’m not delusional. I know that following Him isn’t always easy or emotionally gratifying. I know I will have to sacrifice things…maybe my western ideas, maybe my home, maybe my rights. Maybe I will have to sacrifice seeing my family every day, or week, or year. Maybe I’ll have to sacrifice everything I have.

But this is do know. Christ died for me so I could LIVE. He died so I could have communion with my Daddy each and every day. The guy DIED for me. The least I can do is say yes to whatever His Father has planned for me.

As I become a Kingdom dreamer my life is going to change. My thoughts are going to change. My desires are going to change. I ask you to be patient with me because God isn’t finished with me yet. He is molding me and my dream, and sometimes that will be hard. But I know that where there is mourning, joy comes in the morning. And how much greater are the love and joy of God than anything I may sacrifice? 

Look a little closer at your life. Is God asking you to do something extraordinary? Say yes to His Kingdom dream for you. You’ll be glad you did.