As the above scripture says in the plaque that hangs above my bedroom doorway, along with the recent articles I’ve written on my blog lately, I’ve been in a place of stillness waiting on God to send me some direction and clarity on a few things in my life. As I’ve been waiting patiently to hear a word from My Heavenly Father, He has been teaching me a few valuable lessons that I wanted to share with you today.
SIDEBAR: Isn’t that just like a parent to make everything a learning experience. Sometimes, all you want them to do is just make life simpler by giving you the answer right away without having you wait, think, nor work for it!
Anyways, regardless of how I want My Father to respond, some of the lessons He has me currently learning are:
- To organize better,
- To complete the task at hand even though I don’t see how things will work out, and
- To have unwavering faith that He will see it through because no dream is too big for God to achieve.
As I work at and learn the lessons, I’m finding out that this is all designed to show me exactly how to operate in my faith.
“Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1 NLT)
Many times, we as believers, are waiting on God to move. However, there are times when God is waiting on us to move. Sometimes, He wants us to take a backseat and allow Him to be the driver. Other times, He wants us to step up to the plate and go full steam ahead. What I’m learning is that in those moments, God isn’t waiting on us to have everything figured out, nor to have all of the business connections made, all of the financial resources available, nor all of the educational degrees hanging on the walls. In fact, in those moments when God is waiting for us to step up to the plate and be brave enough to go after our dreams, He isn’t expecting us to have everything perfectly aligned at all. If that was the case, then why would we need to pray to Him if we’re truly capable of doing and achieving everything on our own?
“Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20 NLT)
Sometimes, you have to do things differently in order to achieve results. God’s requiring and expecting us all to have deeper faith in the source (Him) rather than our own strength and resource(s). God is the ultimate source of all things!!! Anything else, is just a resource. Jobs are a resource. Money is a resource. Business connections, networking events, college, career prep, trade schools, etc. are all resources. God is the only, ultimate source of everything because He created it all! Since He has the power alone to change things, and we know that His powers are limitless, then why do we place limits on what God can ultimately do? Here’s an example of how we limit God and focus more on our own resources rather than on Him, the source of it all.
“Late in the afternoon the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the crowds away to the nearby villages and farms, so they can find food and lodging for the night. There is nothing to eat here in this remote place.” But Jesus said, “You feed them.” “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish,” they answered. “Or are you expecting us to go and buy enough food for this whole crowd?” For there were about 5,000 men there. Jesus replied, “Tell them to sit down in groups of about fifty each.” So the people all sat down. Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up toward heaven, and blessed them. Then, breaking the loaves into pieces, he kept giving the bread and fish to the disciples so they could distribute it to the people. They all ate as much as they wanted, and afterward, the disciples picked up twelve baskets of leftovers!” (Luke 9:12-17 NLT)
Many of us, yes including myself and as you can see the disciples of Jesus’ time, place more emphasis and stock on our resources, than we do The Source of all creation. We spend so much time focusing on the lack of resources, or the notion that if we get more education, more money, work more jobs, had “enough“, then that’s the only way we can be a blessing, be blessed, or move forward in achieving our dreams and goals. What I’m learning is that God doesn’t want us to focus on the resources, He wants us to solely focus on Him, the main source. If we put our faith into Him, more than we do the resources that He’s allotted us to have, then we can truly be blessed and achieve anything our heart’s desire.
“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7 NLT)
If we focus more on developing our faith, truly believing our dreams will come true, and waiting patiently on God to move on our behalf, instead of doing things on our own and getting frustrated with the process it takes to develop the very thing we desire or are called to do, we will see the miracle manifestation of our dreams come into fruition. Think about it like this: fruits need proper time to grow from a seed to a ripened delicacy for you to eat. Even wine takes time to grow into a grape, be pruned, pressed to extract the juices, put into wineskins / barrels for a time in order to settle before it’s available for consumption. Our dreams and goals operate the exact same way — they need planting, pruning and proper time to mature before they’re ready for consumption!
To be completely honest with you, just recently I, too, like the disciples, was focusing on my current resources, or lack thereof, instead of confidently focusing on The Lord. I started feeling “thirsty” for more resources, as I began to wonder how this dream of mine will manifest itself. It wasn’t until this afternoon, as I was spending time praying and worshipping God, that I realized in my recent prayers, I was inadvertently doubting the ultimate source, the power and mightiness of God. Since I could not see the outcome of my dreams, due to my own lack of resources, and instead of believing in my original big dream that The Lord had given me, I started trying to belittle the dream and make it fit into what I could do versus what God can do.
I began by taking the reigns, trying to do things on my own, within my own timeline, capabilities and personal resources. I was focusing more on the resources I had immediate access to rather than waiting for the source (God), who sent my resources, to move on my behalf. By doing things on my own, operating within my own timeline, I was unknowingly telling God, “I’ve got this! Since this dream you’ve given me is too big for me to comprehend, and I don’t have access to the resources needed for the level you may want it on, and seeing how it will take too much time doing it your way, I’ll step in, take over and do things my way.”
Thankfully, just as any good parent would do, He corrected me, my way of thinking and my whole operation. Today, in one afternoon and after months of praying about it, God has turned the corner, and changed my understanding of my current state of affairs. I now understand why things happened the way they did. Although my dreams haven’t been fulfilled just yet, I now have a different perspective on how I should be operating in this season. That’s truly the beauty of Bible Study and staying in direct covenant with God, every single day and every step of the way. I don’t have to go through life alone, confused, stressed out, anxious and depressed worrying about not having all of the answers. Nor does any other believer! #BeenThereDoneThat
Thankfully, there’s a Heavenly Father who I can turn to for help. I also have a big brother, Jesus Christ, whose Holy Spirit is always happy to lend a voice guiding me along the way. I’m learning, growing and maturing every single day, just as I hope you are doing the same. I don’t have this thing figured out, and I’m not ashamed to say that. I’m proud trusting in My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and My Heavenly Father God to guide me on this path of life. I know that I can’t do this thing on my own. Frankly, at this point in my life and after everything I’ve been through, I refuse to even try. I need instructions from God every step of the way.
“And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6 NLT)
As I continue to grow and learn more, as always, I’ll share it with you. Until next time, please continue to keep my family and I in your prayers, as I will do the same for you. As I’ve previously stated in the last article titled, “With Death Comes Life; But In God We Trust,” we recently had a death in our family, and this past holiday week, we buried him. While I’m not in a current state of mourning, thank God, others in my family are still going through the emotional process of grieving. Please help me by keeping them in your prayers.
Sincerely with love always,
~A.G.Rogers
(Instagram: @AndreaGees)
A Gees Life 
Amen!
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