As the end of the year rolls around, most of us find ourselves reflecting back on the past 12 months: accomplishments and setbacks; joys and hardships; births and deaths; dreams fulfilled and those that did not become reality…yet! Our life experiences have had a huge impact on who we are today. While past decisions definitely have a hand in our future, they do not dictate our whole existence.
Unfortunately, too many people let circumstances and other individuals determine their fate in life. I know that we can not control many of our circumstances that we find ourselves in, but I do believe whole-heartedly that we have complete control of our attitudes. What if our lives were pro-active instead of reactive? I ask myself, “Instead of just trying to “get through the day” and reacting to what is thrown my way, what would my daily existence look like if I was pro-actively reaching towards my dreams?”
What would my hours be filled with if I lived each day with a sense of purpose, actively seeking God’s will for my life while actively being God’s will to the world around me?
Asking ourselves these questions energizes us. It feeds directly off a very deep, innate need that is waiting to manifest itself. God created each of us with gifts and passions. Cleverly, He also created us to come alive while we are exercising them in furthering His Kingdom! For some of us, our dreams and passions may be standing in a corner with their nose to a wall because we sent them there long ago after our eagerness was scolded and got us into trouble. For others, they may be hidden under layers of regret or pain because of a negative experience. Some of our dreams may be asleep and difficult to rouse because we have never attempted to awaken them before.
For me, my dreams have been masked by lies from the enemy. Such as, ‘I am not good enough, or why would God want to use ME for spreading his love, truth and hope.’ During this past year, I have been blessed to have incredible mentors in my life who have helped open my eyes to these lies. Through their words of encouragement and hours of personal time seeking after the Lord, my faith in God has increased along with my confidence in who I am in Christ. Galations 2:20 has spoken volumes to me over the past year: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
My dreams of international missions is about to become a reality. God has opened the gates wide. He has been paving the way since before I even had a calling to missions. He has been preparing me. But I truly believe that there is another reason this dream is becoming a reality. The Lord has ignited a passion inside of me and His Spirit living in me has daily motivated and encouraged me to actively seek God and actively pursuit my dreams. While we need to seek his leading, we also need to obey and take that step of faith. And just because we take that step of faith once, doesn’t mean that we never have to take that risky step again. He continues to call us higher and closer to him and this requires something of each of us: It requires a movement on our part. Daily we need to be seeking his face, listening to his voice, obeying his leading and TAKING THAT STEP IN FAITH! (I need to tell myself this daily!)
Today when I was baking Christmas cookies, the Lord spoke to me through a song that was playing in the background. Here’s the chorus:
“Praise the Almighty God. He’s done great things for us. Holy is His name.
His mercy is free for those who fear his justice.
May generation to generation, loudly proclaim His faith.”
Last year at this time, the Lord had given me a dream to create a mission trip that would take a handful of us to seven continents in seven months. I knew that this vision was from him, but I had no idea how it was going to become a reality. It was so beyond me. The words to this song literally brought me to my knees in humility. What was “just” a dream a year ago, is going to be a reality in one week! Though the World Race doesn’t take us to every continent – it fulfills the heart of my dream: to spread God’s love, hope and truth all over the world!
“Praise the Almighty God. He’s done great things for us….May generation to generation, loudly proclaim His faith”
So, this upcoming year, I am eager to continue to pursuit those passions that God has birthed in my heart. While the World Race is a dream come true, I know that it will nurture the uprising of many more dreams.
What dreams do YOU have? And remember to dream BIG! Dream beyond yourself. Actively seek God’s face and continue to take those steps in faith – God will meet you everytime. In fact, he is probably eagerly waiting for each of us to take a step closer to him at this very moment. Will I? Will You?
