God Doesn't Care About Dreams
“You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail. ”
I did the most in my last seasons. By the world’s standards, I had it all – friends, a dating life, a great job, full benefits and an upper mid range salary without a degree. I was “accomplished” and doing better than most people, yet I was miserable and constantly falling behind.
I’m a sensitive woman, so my emotions run deep. I’ve been known to act on emotion a time or three. I like having things my way, and I can be impatient. Pair that with my natural inclination to plan and micromanage, I run myself into the ground when left to my own planning, meeting chaos, destruction and heartbreak along the way. Frankly, I can’t steer my own life. History supports this.
I’ve run from God’s plan. Instead, opting to be obedient to the plans of the well-intentioned world around me. I’ve learned through living that the world’s plans tend to leave me on islands far away from the peace and security that God wants to offer me. So, I can plan, and I can dream, but I have to consult Him because He has the final decision, not me. Then, after consulting, I have to let go and wait for instruction.
Swept up in dreams and notions of being self-made, I got ahead of God in past seasons. Each time, He spoke His peace clearly. If could get the things that I planned to obtain on my own strength, then I could have them, but He wasn’t going to help me. And like we all do at some point, I refused to let go of my plans and surrender to His. I didn’t trust the visions in my heart because they weren’t practical. By the standards of my community, I was chasing a pipe dream. So, I’d follow His direction then quit each time my reality met too much resistance. I’d then craft plans to yield safety nets, and I’d work and work and work. Then He’d call and offer me a way. So, I’d turn my toes in His direction and follow His lead for a while. Then once my reality started to shift and I felt too uncomfortable, I’d quit. I’d make new plans, so I could work and work and work to rebuild my safety net. Yet, He never stopped calling.
By the start of this year, I was exhausted. My flesh had withered me to bones in my fight for positions that were never mine to fight for or ones I’d ever secure because they were counter to His call. So, I left. I wasn’t prepared to leave my security; I had no plan and no prospects, but I was tired of bargaining for bits of His promise. Especially, since I knew - if I just surrendered, I could have it all.
Scripture says it best.
“It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or to be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.
This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom. ”
He always brings me back here – to words and education. And when I’m patient enough to trust Him in the wilderness, He provides. So, I need God’s plan because His plan includes my purpose which offers sustainability. His plan accounts for the long haul and provides longevity. So, instead of feeling secure in the moment, I’m fulfilled today, tomorrow and the day after that.
Surrendering has required me to get comfortable being uncomfortable. I’m still uncomfortable, but I have peace; I sleep at night. I’ve come to understand that dreams based on having it my way and temporary desires are childish. If you trust in prayer and His ability to bring abundance into your life, then there’s no reason to chase. His plan is greater than any one you and I can create. Even more, there’s a guaranteed success rate! God knows best because He knows the purpose and plan for our lives, but He’s not pushy. So, be willing to choose His plan because purpose is greater than dreams.