Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Timing or Toil

Good morning!! :) It's been so long that I've logged in, I forgot my password for the first round of "tries." Anyways... here I am... excited to share some good Word with you. Why? Because ALL the Word is good! God's Word changes things. God's Word brings peace where their may be toil in your mind. God's Word and Voice brings clarity where their may be confusion. Praise the Lord that we ALL have access to God's Word for our life!
Eccl. 3:1 - To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven
Let's try this on for size....tell me, have you ever found yourself having this conversation with God? "But God, when? When are you going to bring this to pass? When are you going to do it? How long do I have to wait to live my dream, to accomplish what I have been working towards? Pleeeeeeeease God! Will you please help it to happen now?" 

Have you ever found yourself having this conversation? Maybe you are going along through life, working towards your dream or goal, and one day you just get frustrated. You aren't seeing the results that you think you should be seeing.... or it appears that God is SLOW! "God! What is taking you so long?" :)


I'm sure Joseph may have thought this in his journey to seeing his dream become a reality. In Genesis 37, we see that Joseph was 17 years old when he had his dream. The dream? His brothers & parents bowing down to him. In Genesis 41:42, 46 we do see Joseph ascending to the #2 position of leadership in ALL of Egypt. Notice, he is 30 years old at this time, but even this success still is not fulfillment of his dream:  Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck. Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt.


In Genesis 42, we see that the 7 years of plenty in the land of Egypt had come to an end. At this point it had been 20 years since Joseph had had his dream. 20 years! In verse 6 we see final fruition, Now Joseph was governor over the land; and it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed down before him with their faces to the earth. 


As I sat this morning in my quiet time, basically whining to the Lord, I was reminded of God's perfect timing! Like Ecclesiastes 3:1, there is a season for everything, timing for everything! Just as there was a season for Joseph's dream, there is also a season for my own dream/s. God has perfect timing for my dream. God is not late. 


The Holy Spirit reminded me this morning that the greatest thing that I can do in the pursuit of my dream is to do two simple things. 1) Listen. 2) Obey. If I do those two simple things, my dreams will surely come to pass. THOUGH, the fruition of my dreams coming to pass are still based upon God's timing. I can toil, and try to force my dream to come to pass on my own time, or I can listen & be obedient in the process of my dream coming to pass. I've toiled. That is no fun. I've tried to force things, only to be frustrated in the end. 


What if I want my dream to come to pass NOW? How can I accelerate it? ACCELERATE listening and obeying the Voice of the Holy Spirit! It seems so simple. Proverbs 3:6 tells us, In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 


How are you doing in that area? Acknowledging Him in ALL your ways? "Where should I go today Lord? What should I do? What should I work on? Do you want me to call someone? Drop a note in the mail? What should my day look like? How can I be 'God-Productive'? How can I be productive in the areas that YOU want me to work Lord?" 


Acknowledging Him. It means fine-tuning that LISTENING EAR. He will direct you and me to be in the right place at the right time. He will set up the divine appointments. And while HE is bringing to pass the dreams that you have, you can ENJOY LIFE knowing that you are listening & obeying. You can continue to be obedient to His direction WITHOUT toiling and actually enjoy each day. Enjoy each day with your children, spouse, friends, family WHILE pursuing your dream. 


Listen. Obey. He will tell you what to do. Just as Noah received very SPECIFIC instructions in building the ark, God will give you specific instructions too!


Will you practice listening today?


1 comment:

April said...

Good Word this morning! Listening is something we have been working on over here too!

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