Trusting God with Your Dream
Maybe a year, perhaps two at the most. I was determined, however, to finish what I started – earning my bachelor’s degree. Money was tight before my husband’s company relocated us to a new state. There was no question that continuing in school would require pausing my education to establish residency for in-state tuition. Sure, I was disappointed by the delay, but I loved our new home and my new job so the wait would be worth it. Our plan was to start a family after I finished my degree, but there is a saying in the south, “New house, new baby.” We were thrilled with the news, albeit earlier than we planned. However, it also meant my hope of finishing my education would stay on the back burner indefinitely. The next two decades were filled with joyous memories and tearful struggles as we raised our two daughters. I wouldn’t trade a minute of it for anything, but there simply wasn’t margin in my life to return to school. While I was not active in formal education, God had plenty for me to learn. What I discovered is that God uses “pauses” in our plans to redirect us and prepare us for something better.
Chances are if you are a Christian, you have experienced the disappointment of letting go of a dream or relegating it to your bucket list of things to do before you are too old to do them. You may want to write a book that will bring a smile to others, learn a language to communicate with Portuguese neighbors, or record a podcast to share the gospel. All good things, but life’s hurdles slow us down. When our efforts seem to stall, how are we to know if we are to persevere or to pause? It can be even more frustrating when we have already made significant progress towards a goal. It seems hard to believe the Lord would fill our hearts with a dream, but not provide the time, money, or other resources to accomplish it. How are we to be obedient to what He has placed on our hearts, when circumstances make proceeding nearly impossible?
At times God gives us a direct command, which we are to carry through immediately. And there are times He gives us a vision of what is to come. I admit, I didn’t always know the difference. As a result, I often felt I was disappointing God. What He taught me through the years, though, is that He gives us a desire which will grow deeper within our hearts. It creates a yearning that only He can fulfill. And He does – according to His timeline. It is in those slower, barely-making-progress-towards-the-goal moments that the Lord is equipping us in unforeseen ways. This attribute of God repeats throughout Scripture.
In the book of Genesis, God instructed Abraham to place his long-awaited and deeply-loved son, Isaac, on the sacrifice altar. This happened after God approached Abraham to offer him hope for a dream he had long since given up on – the dream of a family with his wife Sarah. God promised not only a child, but generations upon generations of offspring to form a nation of God’s people. It was such a far-fetched dream for this couple who was well past childbearing years, but they trusted God. With full confidence, Abraham knew God would deliver a child as promised; he just didn’t know when. In the meantime, he experienced the Lord’s presence as he served his extended family and his community in numerous ways. The waiting must have been agonizing for Abraham and Sarah as the desire and longing for the promised child never left their minds. As time ticked by, they moved their focus off the promise and attempted to force the outcome they wanted, the outcome they were told would be theirs. The result was unnecessary turmoil in their lives. God used these challenges to shape their character in the interim between the promise He gave them and its fulfillment.
After twenty-five years, a son was born. With joy and excitement, God was praised and given all the glory. The wait was over, and now they had their dream life – or so they thought. Isaac was most likely a young teenager when the directive was given for Abraham to offer him as a sacrifice to the Lord. How was God going to make Abraham a nation without Isaac taking a wife and having children someday? As a parent myself, I can’t fathom being asked to sacrifice my child, even on the most stressful of days with them. But listen to Abraham’s faith in God when Isaac, who was well aware a sacrifice would be taking place, asked where was the lamb for the offering? “Abraham said, ‘God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son’” (Genesis 22:8 ESV). God demonstrated to Abraham how his faith had grown throughout the waiting. In the end, God did provide and receive the proper sacrifice He was seeking – Abraham’s yielded heart.
There is much for us to learn from Abraham about how to handle our own God-given dreams. His story, found in Genesis chapters 16 through 25, should encourage us to keep believing God will bring to fruition what He has laid on our hearts to do, despite difficult life circumstances and self-inflicted challenges. Often, God gives a vision for something that will be coming in the future, but first He is addressing our sin, shaping our character, and stretching our faith – through the circumstances we encounter. We must learn to place our dream, our goal, and our vision in God’s hands and trust Him with the outcome, much like Abraham did by placing his deeply loved son Isaac on the sacrifice altar. Easier said than done. However, it comes after learning with each twist and turn that life takes, God is faithful along the way.
I had given up on my dream of going back to school. My associate degree in technology was obsolete after 26 years, so I would have to start from scratch. It seemed like an impossibility. I couldn’t have imagined that God would allow me to skip my bachelor’s degree and attend seminary to earn my master’s. Only God could have arranged for me to walk across the graduation stage after setting aside my educational pursuits so many years ago. What I thought was the death of a dream was really the Lord preparing me for His perfect plan to be revealed, in His perfect timing.
When you trust that the Lord gave you the dream, you can trust Him with the pace. And when you do, have faith that the redirects and pauses in your journey are preparing you to see God far exceed what you had envisioned. He supplies all the resources we need to be obedient and walk in faith towards the goal, but it starts with trusting the Lord is doing a good work within you and through you.
