Sometimes God speaks to our hearts about the special things he would have us to do. And then, the Enemy discourages us & steals it. Or sometimes we disappoint ourselves and lose it.
Sometimes we know that God has designed us for a purpose, but we just don't know what that is.
If this is you -- share here. Let's encouage and pray for one another. We each need to find and fulfill our destiny!
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Yes, I sure can relate to both having dreams stolen...and partially letting the enemy steal it. I ended up spending a few years wasting time and wandering around the wildrerness.
BUT...I also know and I am encouraged by the word that says I get that and more back... And that overcomers are rewarded.... and I am beginning to see the rewards and God is giving me back what the enemy stole....but the best thing is a new ability to surrender and abide.
There were great things that come through the trials I went through that robbed me of ministry and many awesome members of my church family. I wandered the wilderness, BUT I came out leaning on my Beloved. The greatest part of the wandering...was that during that time I read, read, and read the word...I studied it and really became stronger....my relationship and understanding grew since I was not being spiritually fed by other people.
I now have a dream...and people surrounding me that share the dream...and I am doing it. It was just a season of preparation for where I am at now.
Dave and Mo thanks. Dave there is much I am not saying here about talent and otherwise. Much I would not say even in private conversation even with you and your wife. You see nearly everything that I thought was anything has ended at some point. Some of them crashed and burned. The Lord has used these things to bring change in my life so all is not lost. It is true that an imploding ministry (IMO finances were the least of the problems) and the accidental, death of a student have left some deep wounds. Glad the worship blesses you and those in pew too. It's many ways it's my desperate attempt to connect to a God that I sometimes am not sure I trust. The only method I have found effective, much like you and your music.
Mo you are right there areas where I have simply quit. I no longer find it fun or worth the effort to sink, swim or dog paddle. I also found a way to keep a roof over my head and not deal with certain reoccuring problems. Maybe this semi self-employed life just fits my personality better. Even in this there is ministry as my prescence and efforts help my customers. Meanwhile they minister to me.
Could it be a series of fluid, changing ministries to fit changing times, of course. I do wonder if there is some larger thing out there and these are just steps in the process. The ride is at times fun. Can't say that I care for those white knuckle years.
Lisa and Mo, I just read your replies about losing dreams.
Lisa, I'm sure you forgot to list some wonderful talents the Lord has given you, especially the one about flag worshipper, that ministers powerfully to us musicians.
And Mo, I feel the truth of what you've written.
Lisa, what if you haven't lost your dream, but rather God may be refocusing and redirecting it to minister in circumstances that are wildly changing in the world and area around you? What if a dream is fluid rather than static? What if you are actually doing His wonderful will every day in all the things you do, but that we have limited eternal vision to see it in the way we THINK we ought to see it? What if He finds you so willing to do all things well, that He adds to your talents, so when you look back it seems you've become a "jack of all trades."
I cannot say exactly what God is doing in my life. I've always KNOWN exactly what I was to do and did it for my whole career. Now, at times I feel real lost. I'm about finished writing a dissertation to complete my Ph.D. in Music Education, and at the same time I am here working at Kingdom being part of a ministry that has proven to be as fulfilling and rewarding as has been my whole career in music teaching and loving the kids.
I've come to realize that my dream was hard and fast for the last three decades and more. (I knew from grade 4 on that I'd be teaching music for a career.) But now it has become fluid. Have I lost it, or is it changing? At first it was very unsettling, but now I'm beginning to enjoy the fluidity. I have NO IDEA of what God is up to in my life, but it's become a super cool journey of faith and trust.
I can identify with losing a dream. Yes the trials of life and my own mistakes led to the death of that dream. I no longer know if it was just a step in the path or a dream lost. Sometimes I think this "Jill of all trades" (teacher, bio tech, computer tech, farm hand, maintenance person, janitor) has done so many different things that there is a "wild" something out there that will tap of these skills. Unfortunately I do not yet know what that something looks like. I can too easily wallow in self pity over the dreams that have been lost along the way. Maybe they were just a season, a step to make possible some bigger picture that I don't yet see.
Lisa, I can totally relate and appreciate what you are saying. I am also a "jack of all trades" and that was a big point of confusion for me when I began searching for my dream. For the longest time, I thought I had lost my dream too. I read books, I took a line item assessment of my skills, gifts and talents and tried to make sense of them, I even asked my mom what I had wanted to be when I grew up.
I could not understand why God would not show me what he wanted me to do. I tried to wrap my brain around how I ended up doing what I do for a living, it seemed so "useless" to his Kingdom. It took a lot of two-way coversations with God and tons of patience to be able to see what was right under my nose all along. I'll save the details for some other time because that is not why I wanted to reply.
Be assured that God does not allow dreams to die in us, he does not hide or take dreams away. We do that to ourselves, often loosing sight of them by being careless or confused (I am guilty as charged!). It is a matter of us seeking out what God would have us do and listening to him as he reveals each piece of his plan in his own time. You may start to see patterns in your life where you are called back time and again to use a gift or skill. You will start to feel a passion for that "thing" you did.
The dream is still alive - Romans 11:29 "God's gifts and his call are irrevocable". if we delight ourselves in the Lord, then he will give us the desires of our heart - ref Psalm 37:4
I can identify with losing a dream. Yes the trials of life and my own mistakes led to the death of that dream. I no longer know if it was just a step in the path or a dream lost. Sometimes I think this "Jill of all trades" (teacher, bio tech, computer tech, farm hand, maintenance person, janitor) has done so many different things that there is a "wild" something out there that will tap of these skills. Unfortunately I do not yet know what that something looks like. I can too easily wallow in self pity over the dreams that have been lost along the way. Maybe they were just a season, a step to make possible some bigger picture that I don't yet see.
Replies
BUT...I also know and I am encouraged by the word that says I get that and more back... And that overcomers are rewarded.... and I am beginning to see the rewards and God is giving me back what the enemy stole....but the best thing is a new ability to surrender and abide.
There were great things that come through the trials I went through that robbed me of ministry and many awesome members of my church family. I wandered the wilderness, BUT I came out leaning on my Beloved. The greatest part of the wandering...was that during that time I read, read, and read the word...I studied it and really became stronger....my relationship and understanding grew since I was not being spiritually fed by other people.
I now have a dream...and people surrounding me that share the dream...and I am doing it. It was just a season of preparation for where I am at now.
Mo you are right there areas where I have simply quit. I no longer find it fun or worth the effort to sink, swim or dog paddle. I also found a way to keep a roof over my head and not deal with certain reoccuring problems. Maybe this semi self-employed life just fits my personality better. Even in this there is ministry as my prescence and efforts help my customers. Meanwhile they minister to me.
Could it be a series of fluid, changing ministries to fit changing times, of course. I do wonder if there is some larger thing out there and these are just steps in the process. The ride is at times fun. Can't say that I care for those white knuckle years.
Lisa, I'm sure you forgot to list some wonderful talents the Lord has given you, especially the one about flag worshipper, that ministers powerfully to us musicians.
And Mo, I feel the truth of what you've written.
Lisa, what if you haven't lost your dream, but rather God may be refocusing and redirecting it to minister in circumstances that are wildly changing in the world and area around you? What if a dream is fluid rather than static? What if you are actually doing His wonderful will every day in all the things you do, but that we have limited eternal vision to see it in the way we THINK we ought to see it? What if He finds you so willing to do all things well, that He adds to your talents, so when you look back it seems you've become a "jack of all trades."
I cannot say exactly what God is doing in my life. I've always KNOWN exactly what I was to do and did it for my whole career. Now, at times I feel real lost. I'm about finished writing a dissertation to complete my Ph.D. in Music Education, and at the same time I am here working at Kingdom being part of a ministry that has proven to be as fulfilling and rewarding as has been my whole career in music teaching and loving the kids.
I've come to realize that my dream was hard and fast for the last three decades and more. (I knew from grade 4 on that I'd be teaching music for a career.) But now it has become fluid. Have I lost it, or is it changing? At first it was very unsettling, but now I'm beginning to enjoy the fluidity. I have NO IDEA of what God is up to in my life, but it's become a super cool journey of faith and trust.
Lisa, I can totally relate and appreciate what you are saying. I am also a "jack of all trades" and that was a big point of confusion for me when I began searching for my dream. For the longest time, I thought I had lost my dream too. I read books, I took a line item assessment of my skills, gifts and talents and tried to make sense of them, I even asked my mom what I had wanted to be when I grew up.
I could not understand why God would not show me what he wanted me to do. I tried to wrap my brain around how I ended up doing what I do for a living, it seemed so "useless" to his Kingdom. It took a lot of two-way coversations with God and tons of patience to be able to see what was right under my nose all along. I'll save the details for some other time because that is not why I wanted to reply.
Be assured that God does not allow dreams to die in us, he does not hide or take dreams away. We do that to ourselves, often loosing sight of them by being careless or confused (I am guilty as charged!). It is a matter of us seeking out what God would have us do and listening to him as he reveals each piece of his plan in his own time. You may start to see patterns in your life where you are called back time and again to use a gift or skill. You will start to feel a passion for that "thing" you did.
The dream is still alive - Romans 11:29 "God's gifts and his call are irrevocable". if we delight ourselves in the Lord, then he will give us the desires of our heart - ref Psalm 37:4