Lately I've realized something about myself... I've lost my dreams. Not in the "I've given up" sort of sense but in the "just not being purposeful," "not thinking about it" sense... The problem with not being purposeful and not thinking about things is you can actually forget why you believed in something so strongly.. Another problem with not being purposeful is most dreams don't come true without effort. That's right, I'm going there again, it takes work, anything in life worthwhile takes effort, work and some of the dreaded discipline. So if I've forgotten my dreams or placed them in the back corner of my mind nothing grows but cobwebs and dust; I don't want that, I must shake myself and remember. Remember the promises, the hopes and the plans; and you must as well!
The thing that caught my attention was not that I had forgotten, it was the doubts that crept into the unoccupied crevices of my forgetfulness... How I seemed to, without noticing, slip into "maybe it wasn't really true" train of thoughts. Don't get me wrong here, I've been fighting those thoughts and getting myself out of that corner; still, I'm not exempt and none of us are.
I was reading the story of Joseph - you know, the coat of many colors guy - the other night and noticed something I've missed so many times before... I've always heard and thought Joseph's jealous brothers lied to their father making him believe Joseph died, they ripped their own fathers dreams as they ripped Joseph's coat and broke Jacob's heart with a lie! Actually, they didn't tell him a lie at all... Yes, the ripped a coat and dipped it in blood and gave it to Jacob but Jacob let go of his own dream.
Genesis 37:32-33 And they sent the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father;
and said, This have we found: know now whether it be thy son's coat or no?
And he [Jacob] knew it, and said, It is my son's coat;
an evil beast hath devoured him; Joseph is without doubt rent into pieces!
But Joseph hadn't been rent into pieces, he was not devoured, Jacob's dream was still alive! Jacob didn't even question the evidence, like many of us, Jacob jumped to the negative conclusion and gave up on his dream... And before you go wagging your finger or tisking with your tongue, think about the things you may have given up on just because what you saw told you it would never happen... We've all done it because it's part of human nature to draw conclusion without complete fact being presented.
Sometimes I don't understand God or his timing... Sometimes I just want part of what he's promised me now... Sometimes we argue and I whine over why, sometimes I doubt how... Sometimes I doubt my own capacity and ability to step into the dreams and promises God's given me... But all those sometimes really stem from me seeing the evidence, or actually the lack of evidence, without remembrance of the power of the God who spoke the promises in the first place. I once heard that the power to fulfill the promise is immediate with the spoken word... Think about it "let there be light, and there was..." The power for the fulfillment was in the word, the time table was just shorter. I don't know what your dreams are, I don't know the plans God has for you or the promises he's made but I do know that he will fulfill them! I do know that no matter what has happened or hasn't happened, no matter the evidence to the contrary or the lack of support, he is able to bring it to pass... And if I know that for you, I know it for me. So what are we doing? It's time to push what we see aside and have a little faith! It's time to live it out people!
2 Corinthians 5:7 (The Voice version) The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes.
Habakkuk 2:3 (The Message) This vision-message is a witness pointing to what's coming. It aches for the coming - it can hardly wait! And it doesn't lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It's on its way. It will come right on time.
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