Faith Has a Future!

When I heard the Lord speak through that small-still-voice on the inside of me at the opening night service of the church leadership conference that Piper and I were attending here in Oklahoma back in 2003, I was not only a little bit stunned… but also quite upset with God! 

Let me explain… I had been praying and DREAMING about going to Seminary or Bible School since the mid-1970’s, when I first heard the call of God on my life.  But it just never seemed to happen!  We had been out here to Rhema for conferences many times over the years, and while my hopes and DREAMS were renewed… it always seemed to be the wrong time… and this went on until I finally gave up on my DREAM… Yup…  You guessed it… Right before we came out here with a group from our church in 2003!

So… what did I do?  I shared what I’d heard with Piper and we agreed to pray about it until we were sure that we heard Him correctly… before we shared a word of it with anyone else… And we did just that… for a period of one year!  But even after that, and we felt secure with His direction for us… it seemed like an impossible task… and let me tell you… It did not happen overnight!  We still had our daughter’s wedding to plan, two kids to graduate from high school and what seemed like a million details to work through in order to pack up and move to another state!

That’s the time when the rubber meets the road in the pursuit of your DREAMS.  It is what separates the DREAMERS from the DREAM-DOERS!  In my personal experience, this is one of the most exciting points in the process of following your DREAMS!  It is when your faith soars, when conceptualizations begin to form and the light at the end of the tunnel begins to glow. 

It is when you begin to understand that FAITH IS NOW but it also has a FUTURE!” or maybe better said, that FAITH IS NOW and is the path to THE POSITIVE FUTURE that you are believing for!” (See Hebrews 11:1)

 It is the time when you sit down with the Lord, open up your heart and say,

“Okay Lord, we’re gonna do this and obey Your leading.  NOW show us WHAT and HOW to DO IT!”

At this stage in the DREAM process, it is good to know another often-time quoted scripture by my lovely wife, found in Jeremiah 33:3, where the Lord spoke through the Prophet encouraging us to,

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not (yet) know.” (NASB)

I can attest to the fact, that it is amazing the number of good ideas, plans, personal connections and blessings that can come to you when you ask wisdom of the Lord… and then stay sensitive and obedient to His leadings, insights… or ‘HINTS’ as I like to call them, that pop up along the way!

It was interesting to me this morning when I looked up the word ‘know’ in Jeremiah 33:3 in the Greek translation, and realized that it also comes from the word ‘ginosko’ which speaks to a ‘knowing’ of the Lord’s will for you that comes through a very close, personal and intimate relationship between the two of you! 

For me, this is likened to the very close, personal and intimate ways in which Piper and I enjoyed our spiritual, physical, intellectual and emotional relationship with each other.  I’ve often said that it was the reason that I was able to accurately know her needs even though she couldn’t verbally communicate with me during the final years of her life.

Well… it took another two years for that DREAM to manifest along with all the pieces of the puzzle to come together for the move that included Bible School attendance, a job, a home to rent and the educational and legal requirements met for our daughter’s senior homeschooling year… to name a few of the most important things!  But we did it by continually seeking, listening and obeying the leadings of the Lord and by keeping our faith narrowly focused on the power and truth of His Word… just as the Psalmist declared in Proverbs 3:5-6 saying,

“Trust the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths smooth.” (God’s Word ©)

Our focus on His Word helped to keep us strong and encouraged in meeting the needs at hand, and also gave us a clear and joyful vision of the positive future that we were aiming for!

So… that is how that DREAM was fulfilled for us.  Like I’ve said before… it wasn’t always an easy path to follow… and might have been a lot less stressful if we never said yes to the leading of the Lord and stayed home in the comfortable routine that we had going for us.

BUT… Looking back today and the battle that would be thrust upon us for Piper’s health, I firmly believe that we would have never made it through all of the trauma of the life-threatening disease and the myriad of daily decisions that had to be made, the unexpected personal persecutions and the other various trials as well as we did… without obeying the Lord’s call and moving to Oklahoma for the special and in-depth training and saturation in the Word of God that we all received.

We don’t always see the full ramifications of following our God-given DREAMS.  I’ve learned that these spiritual leadings will many times, also positively affect others around us.  God sees a lot more than we do!  And that is another reason that I feel compelled to pursue the DREAMS that God gives to me… PLUS… it is a pretty EXCITING process!  I guess that is the PIONERING SPIRIT that Piper and I possessed.  We always enjoyed pursuing a new DREAM and the journey along the way!

How About You?  Kind of makes you want to DREAM a little more, doesn’t it? 

The hard layer of frozen sleet is beginning to soften around our house and neighborhood today.  So it looks like I can put aside my steadying walking stick when I go out with the dog!  Have a terrific rest of your week.  Pursue your DREAMS and keep EXPECTING God’s BEST in your life today!