On the Race we have this weekend every few months called Leadership Development Weekend, or LDW. It’s basically a couple days for the whole squad to meet in a city and hear devotions/messages from a few people on the squad. Well, we just had our last one in Kampala, Uganda this past month. Up until now, I thought I had dodged a bullet because I had never been asked to speak, BUT joke’s on me because I did actually get asked to speak at this one. Haha. So I thought, if I’m gonna share this with my squad, why not also post a blog about it and make it open to the whole world? So here it is…
One thing I’ve been thinking a lot about lately is dreams. My own personal dreams, what God thinks about them, what the Bible says about them, if it’s only a Western concept, and what actually pursuing our dreams looks like. The Race is a really easy place to dream actually. I mean, as I write this I’m in Kenya and I’m overlooking this beautiful African plain. Just this morning I went on a walk and saw giraffes, zebra, wildebeest, and gazelle. No kidding. I never really thought I would be in a place like this. So on the Race it’s easy to dream, to be reminded of your desires, and to believe that one day God might actually take you there.
But, to be honest, I’ve also struggled a lot with the concept of dreaming while being surrounded by poverty and by people whose only dream might be to provide for their family that day. I’ve felt guilty for having dreams. I’ve felt guilty for having the opportunities that I have and to see so many things that others don’t get to do or see. I’ve wondered why I have what I have and am who I am. I’ve questioned the bigger dreams that I have and wondered if that’s just a silly desire that will eventually die out or if that’s really something God would allow me to do, to help me do. But through all these thoughts, I’ve come to a conclusion. And here’s what it is:
God DOES want us to dream. It PLEASES God when we dream. And ultimately it GLORIFIES God when we dream and actually pursue those dreams.
Here’s what I’ve realized. In Matthew 25 Jesus tells the parable of the talents, or the bags of gold. I’ll give a quick summary: In it, a Master entrusts his wealth to 3 of his servants. To one he gives 5 bags of gold, to one he gives 2 bags, and to one he gives 1 bag. Then the master leaves with the expectation that his servants will do something with what he’s given them. It IS his wealth anyway, right?
The one with 5 bags accumulates 5 more and the one with 2 bags accumulates 2 more. But the one who was only given 1 bag is afraid, so he digs a hole and buries it. So when the master comes back, he’s pleased with the two servants who did something with the wealth given them and got more, calling them “good and faithful servants”. But he becomes angry with the servant who hid his wealth, calling him a wicked and lazy servant.
So what I get from this passage of scripture is that God gives us all a different lot in life. He entrusts us all with a different hand that ultimately is his wealth to begin with. It isn’t about the quantity of what we’re given. Jesus makes that clear. But for me, I’ve struggled to reconcile how I am to live with so much when others have so little (materially speaking). Not only do I have a lot of material possessions, but I have knowledge, an education, opportunity, and a passport with a lot of stamps. I’ve seen things and I have a desire to do something with the knowledge that I have. But one thing I’m learning to remember is that God is the one who gave me my mind, my creativity, my imagination. He’s the one who places those pangs deep in my heart when I experience something that impacts me deeply. So if He’s the one who’s given me all this…wouldn’t he want me to do something with it? Not only that but he’s given me his PROMISES. The promises of God have taken on a whole new meaning for me this year.
We have promises to cling to like:
“Faithful is He who calls you, who also will do it.” 1 Thess. 5:24
“Take delight in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
“God is not human that He should lie, not a human that He should change His mind. Does He speak and then not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?” Numbers 2:19 (my new favorite)
And these are not just feel good quotes but actually promises from the Creator of the universe whose desire is for me to step out in faith.
Here’s another truth for you. God wants you to dream, but your enemy does not. Yup, you have an enemy and his name is Satan. His desire is to steal, kill, and destroy anything that would bring glory to God, and that includes your dreams. That’s actually a wake-up call to me. Because I know how the enemy likes to work in my life and deceive me. I already know that once I’m home, I will be tempted to forget these dreams and passions of mine that God has rekindled in my heart and to settle for doing something that makes money, but not that sets my heart on fire. And I know it’s usually such a gradual process that I don’t even realize it when it’s happening.
So something I’ve been learning to do is to just DO it sometimes. I’m learning that compassion is more than just a feeling. Love is not an emotion. These are things in this life that beg us to act. Because the thing about what we do with our life is that it’s never meant to be self-serving. Jesus was always outward-focused, and He calls us to live the same. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by my desires and my passions in this life. I get overwhelmed thinking about the timeline of my life and how I could accomplish these things. And sometimes our fears paralyze us into doing nothing. What I’m learning is to say “yes” to God in the small things. Saying “yes” when I know He is prompting me to talk to that stranger. Say “yes” when he is asking me to give something of mine to someone who needs it much more. And to say “yes” to pursuing the deep longings of my heart that scare me. He tells us that if we can first be entrusted with a little, then we can be entrusted with a lot.
I know that it pleases God when we can step out and trust Him with our dreams. His plans for my life, for your life, actually are better than anything we can imagine. But I think it’s our responsibility to step out in trust and in obedience and let him do the rest.
Honestly, I can use this year as an example. I really had no idea what this year would hold. But I really knew that God was asking me to leave. And so I did. And it was such a great decision.
So ask God for dreams and passions that are in line with his heart. And then do it. And may all the glory belong to God. Because it’s not about adventure, or a fun life, or making it big. It’s all about Jesus. So may we all be people who do something with what little or lot we’ve been given.
See you in two weeks, America. 🙂
