(Psalms 5:8 MKJV) Lead me, O Jehovah, in Your righteousness, because of my enemies; make Your way straight before my face.
God has given each of us a very specific purpose and as we draw closer to Him this purpose, this dream, will begin to move us to action but there are many obstacles that must be overcome. Bruce Wilkinson provides one of the best pictures of this in his book “The Dream Giver”. In it we find a young man named Ordinary living in a place called Familiar. As you can guess everything had its place until one day he realized something big was missing. One thing led to another until this dream moved him to action. The first step was moving out of his “Comfort Zone”, next he faced “Border Bullies” as people told him that his dream was too big. Once he got past them he found himself in the “Wasteland” where he faced despair, thinking his dream had died but he was not alone for he met a stranger called Faith. She caused Ordinary to realize the hand of God as he came through the Wasteland. She reminded him how he found water to drink and food to eat just as he needed them most. After the Wasteland he came to another place called Sanctuary, then the Valley of Giants, and finally the Land of Promise.
I too have traveled this path and found the Promised Land just as Ordinary did but what surprised me most is this – the Land of Promise is not the final destination but merely a mile stone in a life style of following God because once the Land of Promise has been reached the Dream Giver (God) will raise up new leaders to take your place. If you stay too long once again you’ll find yourself in the Land of Familiar. It’s all very interesting how God requires our full attention. It’s when we stop looking to Him that we stop moving on our journey. This is not a journey that requires physical strength but instead a clean heart before God and spiritual ears to hear His voice. He will not ask anything of you that He has not given you the means to do but it does require that you trust Him fully and your obedience will be tried. Each new adventure is more difficult than the previous but isn’t that what the Bible tells us to expect? Finally guard your heart for God’s enemy is aware of who you are meant to be whether you realize it or not. The very spot the enemy attacks will be that which the dream is born of. I was labeled, as a child, as being shy and withdrawn and I could have let it rule my life but out of that I realized being quiet gave me the ability to listen to God’s leading better and now I find myself sharing His Word with others regularly!
