© Photo: Female Deer - Donna L. Watkins
Don't you want it? Divine intervention! A miracle! An answer to prayer!I've got my own sketch of how I want God to intervene in my life. It's all laid out in visual detail because I've spent plenty of time designing the idea of it all. We want to draw life on a board to have it the way we see it, but life doesn't happen that way. The Master Architect has the final plans. However, as contractor's over our own lives, we can mess things up real good if we want to.
One of the way to do that is to not look for the blessings in things we do not understand. A contractor follows the plans before him, regardless of whether it's the way he would've built the house or not. There is somebody in charge above him, and that's the one who is building the house. The owner is paying the price for it. If we gave our lives over to the Lord, then Jesus paid the price for us, and we have to look at God's plans or we'll never be satisfied with what's being built.
I find the story of Joseph incredible. God gives him a dream of ruling over his brothers and shortly thereafter, they sell him into slavery. He has years of that and is then accused of something he didn't do and goes to prison, seemingly forgotten by all. Do you think he wondered about that vision?
Have you wondered about the visions and dreams that God has given you? Are you doubting them while you sit in the cell of your own prison? Have you given up because it's not on your time schedule? I'm sure Satan bombarded Joseph with thoughts such as, "So your dream was to be on a throne and here you are in prison. Worthless you. God has totally forgotten you." But Satan was wrong. The prison was only the birthplace of purpose and promise.
When you buy a piece of land to build a home on, it doesn't look anything like a home, does it? There's a lot of work to be done before you can even begin building the home. The foundation is the most important part of it all. As evidenced by the story of "The Three Little Pigs" and the man in the Bible that build his house upon the rock.
God has not changed His mind about those visions and dreams. DO NOT change yours! It's been said that our attitude determines our altitude. When God's going to do something great, He takes extra time to build a strong foundation. Many times there are long delays because we chose to whine and complain rather than keep the vision and believe in faith.
Sometimes it feels lonely, but those are the best times to make a smooth foundation. You can't lay a foundation on a home site with a bunch of people and equipment sitting all around. You have to clear the area. God seeks to clear the area of our lives from distractions so we can focus on who He is, become more like Him, and be prepared for the vision and dream that we know in our hearts is supposed to happen.
Have you given up on that dream? You can't get rid of a dream entirely. There's always a remnant there planted solidly in your soul and heart. Grab hold of it and go to God and believe again. God may not work on your schedule, but He'll always be on time if you wait for Him.
I've been tempted to bury my dreams because of the delays, and in a sense I did bury them in busyness. Molding my life in a manner so that I wouldn't have to think about them. But not showing up on the job site is not the way to get a home built. I thought leaving my job would only produce more fear since I'd have all that "extra time" to think about what I didn't want to think about.
It wasn't making sense to me that God wanted me to let go and let Him show me the way to my dreams. You can't serve two masters. I had to choose whether I was going to give more of my time to God so I could get this house (body) built, or continue on the path that has certainly not been fulfilling my dreams.
"More time to myself" didn't produce more fear once I stepped into the water. It has produced more faith and excitement and hope and joy and peace. It's about obedience which will always produce these things. God is so faithful if we open the door to His plans for our life and are willing to be used in the building process.
His delays are not denials. He's never said anything that He hasn't fulfilled and delivered. Forget the circumstances and events of the past. Stand on the Word of God and move forward in thought and in faith.
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