When God tells you to do something new, do you say, “Yes, Lord,” then jump into the new adventure with both feet?

Or, do you say something like:

• I don’t think that was really God.  I just made that up.
• But, I don’t want to do it–if it were really God, I would have a desire to do it.
• It’s too big of a thing–I’m not capable/equipped/smart enough/funny enough/godly enough, etc.
• There are tons of people that could do it better than I could.
• I’ll just wait and see.

Sadly, I came by my bulleted list in a very real way–those have been my thoughts about a new venture I believe God put on my heart.  I have been feeling convicted for not responding in faith, and I feel that it is dangerous to think the way I have been for many reasons.

     First, if God means for a creative project to come into the world, and the vessel he chooses to make it happen refuses, or puts it off–eventually that beautiful project will fall into some else’s hands.

     Second, it doesn’t matter who we might think could do it better–God is the one who does the choosing.  As for not feeling excited about a new venture, well, sometimes the joy comes through the obedience.  Sometimes, we may have a piece of God’s plan (with some self mixed in) and the only way to get clarity is to take action the best we know how.

     So, that’s the “talking to” I am giving myself.  To alleviate the pressure to perform, I am going to take the teensiest, tiniest step of action I can think of–I am going to work on the project for five to ten minutes a day for the next week, and see where I am this time next week.  That’s my committment!

     Well, it’s a little late in coming, but here goes.  Say it with me, “yes, Lord.”  And, jump!

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rules, the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

     A couple of weeks ago, I had a very vivid dream.  I was in a dark room, and someone was asleep in the bed.  It was nighttime.  The person in the room was sleeping, and I was on my knees at the end of the bed, with the intent of praying for this person.  At that moment, I was attacked.  I won’t go into any more detail, but when I woke up, I felt I’d had a pretty clear reminder that we all have an enemy who does not want us to pray. 

     This freaked me out, to be honest.  I do not like those kinds of dreams.  At the same time, though, it impresses something amazing on me–PRAYER IS POWERFUL.  IT CHANGES THINGS.  GOD WORKS MIRACLES THROUGH OUR PRAYERS.

    Therefore, be ecouraged, and keep praying.  Pray for unsaved family members and friends.  Pray for the country and our nation’s leaders.  Pray for your coworkers.  Pray for the people who teach your kids.  Just pray.  Watch out for distractions and attacks (in the sneaky form of other things that seem more important).

With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints (Ephesians 6:18b NIV)

Last year–and even before that, I had many opportunities to exercise my faith.  My husband (then boyfriend) and I were working toward getting married, but first…he had to get a job in a different town, sell a business for a certain amount of money, and I had to get a new job.  I saw things begin to fall into place, as God answered my prayers.  Everything was happening, except I still didn’t have a job.  Oh–and our house wasn’t finished, and we didn’t have electricity in the part of the house that was finished.

Here is the timeline:

• March 2007:  I seriously began praying about my future husband’s job.
• June 2007:  My husband got the job he had tested for and been waiting for for two years.
• June 2007:  I received a marriage proposal and ring (from the same guy).
• June 2007:  I prayed that my betrothed’s business would sell for a certain amount of money.
• June 2007:  The business sold for that exact sum–no haggling, no questions asked.
• August 2007:  I began looking for a job near the town where we would live once we were married (population 181).
• March 2008:  No luck on the job front, but I felt like I needed to take a step of faith. I bought 3 bridal magazines.
• March 2008 (one week later):  I bought a wedding dress.
• March 2008 (a few days later):  We set a wedding date:  Sept. 27, 2008.
• July 2008:  I got a job offer near our future home, and accepted the position.
• August 2008:  We got electricity!  (After a long battle with the power company.)
• Sept. 27, 2008:  We got married!
• Aug. 31, 2009:  We think we have someone lined up to pour concrete on the addition to the house.

I felt like I needed to give the timeline of events, because God is impressing on me so much that we need to constantly be believing him for a big dream and take steps of faith to get there.  In my example with the timeline, it seemed like buying the bridal magazines set a lot of things in motion, even though I still didn’t have a job.

We exercise our faith.  We live in expectation.  We step out into something new.  We see God move.  We see our vision come to pass.  This is what makes life exciting!

Things have calmed down around here.  I am content, and I haven’t been praying for much beyond the every day type concerns.  Now, I feel like God has spoke to me that what makes life exciting is living the life of faith.  This could manifest itself in so many different ways.  Living each day with eyes and ears open to a divine appointment to give or witness is one way to do this that we can begin practicing immediately.

I feel God telling me to start praying again & believing for the completion of the house.  I also feel compelled to delve into a new writing project.  I want to write drama scripts for churches to use in worship, evangelism, youth, children & women’s ministry.  I haven’t written a drama script in around ten years, but when I walk or drive, I see “scenes” playing out in my head.  I don’t know where this could lead, or what the result might be, but I am enthused about trying something new, and taking a step of faith.  That is my big dream.  Another dream I have is to take a long, romantic weekend with my husband.  This may not sound like much, but when it feels like it won’t ever happen (because of money, scheduling etc.) it qualifies as a big dream.

Using our faith is what makes it grow and get stronger.  We have a big God.  It’s okay to dream big dreams.  It’s okay to pray big prayers.  In fact, it’s absolutely thrilling!

If you have a big dream you are believing God for, I would love to hear about it.