On Dreaming
Another month has flown by. April is right around the corner and we all know what April Showers bring yep you guessed it
MY BIRTHDAY oh you meant May flowers. I get so giddy talking about my birthday y’all. I know that it represents me getting older but it also means I get lots of prizes. I love all types of prizes. I honestly could care less about the dollar amount it’s more about the thought behind the actual prize. I just started a wish list in my phone to pass off to my mom and my husband and kiddos so if you need any inspiration on what to buy me just ask them haha (kidding) well kinda. Today as we continue our blog series on dreaming I want to first say a huge thank you to the sweet guest bloggers we have had this month. Each one of their blogs has impacted so many people.
I want to finish out this series with a few verses out of 1 Thessalonians. It has challenged and encouraged me through many seasons of my on dreaming.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”
I am all for dreaming big. I love looking out the window and daydreaming of ways to connect people to Jesus. I have also found myself staring out a window reflecting on all the reasons why I have felt forgotten and overlooked through seasons of dreaming big. It’s in those moments that our dreams can derail us away from following Jesus wholeheartedly. Today you may be asking yourself the question “what is God’s will for my life?”. I am so glad you asked, sweet friend, because it’s way easier than we make it out to be.
Glance back at the verse and let’s pull 3 things away to tuck away into our hearts.
- Rejoice always.
Rejoice is defined by Webster as this; to give joy to. So many times when we are in the midst of a dream and one door after another seems to shut after all our efforts it can sting a bit. We can begin to feel overlooked and unheard by God. I have been there so I get it. We find ourselves on the couch of a friend or on the phone with them telling them all things that have frustrated us. When I read this passage of scripture and read the word REJOICE ALWAYS that means I have to shift my words and my heart to a place where I am finding joy even when the doors close. Even when I thought I would be at point A or point B by now. I have to rejoice in the fact that God is in control and that He gifted me and equipped me to carry out something bigger than my mind can wrap around. Ladies if we stay parked in an emotion of complaining or regret we aren’t really ready to embrace a new season or see a dream be fulfilled.
OUCH.
- Pray continually.
Praying is something I have grown to love over the years. Its what makes me feel like God is always near. I can be in the car, in the bathroom, in the line at the grocery store or crying on my face at the altar at church and yet He is listening to my every want, desire and cry of my heart. Praying is how we don’t get bitter when that dream isn’t fulfilled. It’s also how we stay strong and learn to endure the hard seasons when the dream does come and we become exhausted living it out. I am often exhausted from emotionally pouring out and it’s through my prayer life that I fuel back up, and gain the strength to keep going. He knows what we need the moment we come to him through prayer but verbalizing it on our end connects our heart to Him while we wait.
LEAN IN.
- Give thanks in ALL circumstances.
This one is hard to live out loud when your dream has been shattered by either a choice you made or by a choice someone else made. Giving thanks when there is no more money or no more motivation to keep going can seem impossible. We can find joy in the hard seasons, and we can pray through those hard seasons but saying thank you for those hard seasons is a whole different ballgame. When I get a gift of any kind my heart immediately goes into thankful mode. I want the person giving the gift to know how much I really do appreciate the gesture. In my mind, I have wrestled with God for allowing disaster to take place around me, for brokenness to happen within me and feeling like I am alone to derail me. I have wrestled not thanked Him. If I am honest this is one area I struggle with and it’s not because I am not thankful for all that God has done for me its impatience for what I think He should have already done. (OUCH AGAIN) This is something I have been working on for some time now. It’s learning to thank Him in all seasons whether good or bad.
I believe that when we are dreaming beyond our circumstances we see the bigger picture. We have our eyes fixed on Jesus and not the outcome of our effort and striving. God never intended a dream He put in me to become an idol. Today ask yourself this question do I think more about my dream or on the goodness of my Creator? Do I allow my emotions to dictate whether or not I rejoice, pray and continually thank God? These are questions that shake the foundation of our motivation behind the dreams stirring in us. We have to get things in order or that dream you are longing to see WILL derail you.
Let this verse in Philippians weigh heavy on your heart and mind tonight so that you can clearly see whether or not you are chasing the dream or the Dream Giver.
Philippians 4:12
“I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.”
Also, take a look at the amplified version…mmmm good stuff.
“I know how to get along and live humbly [in difficult times], and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret [of facing life], whether well-fed or going hungry, whether having an abundance or being in need.”
I am cheering you on sweet friend!
Keep dreaming big.
