Day 89: Dare to Dream.

We are all called to different things in this life, some of us are called to be pastors and missionaries, and work in the ministry or the church, but not everyone is called to do that work. That doesn’t make you less than anyone else it just means that God has a different plan and path for you.

Proverbs 18:16

A man's gift makes room for him and brings him before the great.

Proverbs 16:3

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.

1 Corinthians 12:4-6

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.

Too many times in the church I have seen young people swayed away from following their dreams because it was something outside of the church, it meant walking into worldly places, or it meant that we wouldn’t spend every waking moment in the church. I know this from experience. We grow up being told to chase our dreams and follow our hearts. When we come into the church, those words are changed to ‘find your calling’. We then must find out what it is that God wants us to do in this world. But honestly many of us already know the answer to this question, but we start to doubt because sometimes it doesn’t look holy enough. We start to put pressure on ourselves to find a job in the church and forcing ourselves to love doing it. At least we will look holy.

I will be the first to say that just because we are Christian does not mean we will have a career in ministry. Not all of us are meant to spend every minute in the church. Some of us need to be in hospitals, police stations, law firms, on sets and stages, in space, in the classroom, in business meetings etc. Christians actually need to be on the frontline of every outlet. Why do we suppress our passions, and those dreams burning inside of us. The problem with that is, when we decide to do something other than what God has called us to do we are going against His plan. We make our lives so much harder when we think we know it all. It’s so simple. God has given us all different gifts and talents, yet they all come from the same God. If everyone thought their calling was to be a priest the tabernacle would have never been built. If everyone thought they were kings, we wouldn’t have an army. God uses us in the areas we are in to build His kingdom and bring honor and glory to His name.

Our gifts will make room for us.  God didn’t give you the ability to play an instrument for no reason, play it to His glory. Just like david, his ability to play the harp put Him in the position to later become king.

I think the key to following our dreams is committing our ways to the Lord. Making sure that whatever we do, we do for the glory of God. Yes sometimes our gifts will take us away from the church but they won’t take us away from God. I think when we truly find our calling and do what its is we were put on this earth to do, that is when we will know a deeper level of intimacy with God. When we live the life He has planned for us, and not a life we think will please Him.

We know what the people on the outside are saying about the type of life we should live. But what does God say, and what do you say? I think many times as Christians we place ourselves between a rock and a hard place because we believe our passions, our dreams, the things we love the most are the things that will separate us from God. But that is not so, if God has given us the ability to do something, just taking that gift and using it is a way to honor Him. Our dreams do not separate us from God, if anything they should bring us closer to Him.

When I struggled with stepping down from being a youth pastor to return to acting the main thing I worried about was, will this interrupt my faith. I had that mindset because I was so comfortable where I was, I was safe within the walls of the church, but my spirit was slowly dying because I knew that  God wanted me somewhere else. The moment I committed to go back to acting, everything seemed to fall into place. Because I know that this is the life God has chosen for me, and I have never been closer to God than I am now.

-Dyamond

We must dare to dream, dare to go outside of the box of christianity, dare to do something outside of what religion has told us is okay. Sometimes we have to rebel in order to be in God’s will. That means applying for med-school, writing that song, majoring in science instead of theology. We have to rebel against religion and tradition. I think we all know where we want to to go in life, we all have dreams and we know what we are good at, know that those gifts will make room for you.

Another thing we must realize is that we must not have selfish ambitions. We are servants of Christ, we might be serving in a different way, never the less we are servants. That’s why the scripture tells us to commit our ways to the Lord. Commit those dreams, and goals, and passions to the Lord and watch them flourish.

Reflection

1. What are your dreams?
2. Do you believe that you can follow Christ and follow your dreams? Why or why not?

Prayer Time

Talk to God about following your dreams, find comfort in knowing that the things you are passionate about are the things that God has put in your heart. Ask Him to help you commit you ways to Him and remain humble. Talk to God about whatever is on your heart.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Share this with someone, and make the choice today to commit your ways to the Lord and follow those dreams.

Make sure you come back tomorrow for day 90!

Day 74: Where Do We Go From Here

We have all been in a place where we feel stuck, our twenties is when we feel this the most. We have started this life on our own and we don’t know where to go. We have a head full of dreams, plans, and goals, but where do we start. How do we get there from where we are? How do we move when we’re stuck?

Well first, we have to take a leap of faith. In the words of Steve Harvey, we have to jump, and know that God will not let us fall. We cannot doubt His direction or we will fall.

Matthew 14:28-31

28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind,[e] he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Matthew 7:7

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

There’s a couple of things to point out from the above scriptures that will help us answer the proposed questions. Ask God for whatever it is you want and it will be given to you. Here’s the thing, we have to be ready to receive and have faith to walk out into the unknown trusting the plan and hand of God because we know that He is faithful. Peter asked Jesus to walk on the water, and after a few steps He started to fear and that’s when He started to sink. He was afraid even with Jesus standing right there before Him. We have to have faith even though we cannot see Him physically we know He is right there with us. We must have faith when we ask God for something, and faith when He tells us to step out of the boat. We cannot be afraid or we will start to sink. It’s scary but God is bigger than our fear, He will not call us into the water to watch us sink.

James 2:17-18

17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

We must exercise our faith. It isn’t enough to just say, “I have faith.” no we have to act on it. We cannot expect something to happen just by sitting there and saying we have faith in God. We can have all the faith in the world that everything we need and want is behind the door, but if we don’t knock or walk through the threshold, how will we ever get to it. Faith is not just believing that God will come through for us, it is acting as such. Faith is taking the leap even though we don’t know where our feet will land, we know that God is going to catch us. It’s taking a chance and trusting that God will pull us through.

Sometimes when we feel stuck it means that we have to take a leap of faith to get to where God wants us to go. When we reach the end of a chapter in our lives and don’t know where to go that is where we look to  God for direction, and if He tells us to jump, we have to. If we don’t we will stay in a place where we will be stuck forever. The only way out is to leap, we can’t step we have to jump. Everything we’re looking for, everything we need will be on the other side, leap and watch God allow you to soar. You can do it, put that fear aside, get a running start and JUMP!

Philippians 4:13

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Reflection

1. Are you currently in a place where you feel stuck?
2. What is stopping you from taking that leap?
3. If you had nothing to lose, how easy would it be to take that leap of faith?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above question guide your prayer today. Ask God for direction, and ask Him to strengthen your faith so that you will move when He says move. Talk to God about what is on your heart today.

I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Share this with someone, take a leap of faith today, Make sure you come back tomorrow, for the second part of this series, Day 75!