Happy 2018!

Here we are just days into a new year. A new year filled with promise, with hope, with anticipation of new adventures with God in this journey called life. I love the clean slate a new year offers. There’s just something about fresh starts that rekindle dreams, hopes, and aspirations.

A new year is a perfect time to revisit our God-sized dreams.

Dreams that God has placed on our hearts. Desires that don’t seem to go away. Thoughts that encompass exciting what ifs?

But, wait. Am I equipped? Do I have what it takes? Will I have enough time? Am I too old (or young) or am I being too selfish? The questions come flooding in, don’t they? They sometimes stop us before we ever get started. And, before we know it, another year can slip by and our God-sized dreams stay tucked inside us.

Yes, it’s scary to allow that dream to rise to the surface. It’s often more comfortable to let them lie. When we brush them off and give them life we open up ourselves and our dreams to scrutiny, to reality, and sometimes to anxiety. It’s much safer to keep them tucked away, isn’t it?

But, the thing is, our God-sized dreams are unique to each one of us. No one else has the same one. So, either your God-sized dream is realized through you or it’s not realized at all. The same goes for me. If we choose to keep it buried, the blessings attached to the dream are never experienced either. Not by us individually nor by the rest of the world.

God sees more than we see.

Since God created and formed us, He placed within us specific talents and gifts which are also unique. He continues to grow us through them as we mature in Him through this life. There’s more within us that we can’t see. He sees it all perfectly, however, and when the time is right, He’s going to prompt us to do something with it. Something we’ve never done before.

Faith means being sure of the things we hope for and knowing that something is real even if we do not see it.
Hebrews 11:1 (NCV)

Allow me to give you an example. A few months ago a strong desire within me seemed to come out of nowhere. A desire to connect with and encourage women during the holiday season. That strong desire turned into something I couldn’t shake. I knew if I didn’t follow through with it, I would have regrets and would always wonder, what if?

God could see more than I could.

All I could see were my limitations, my inabilities, and my doubts. But, within a week God arranged the details for a women’s evening of encouragement at a local cafe, and on December 4th, that desire became a God-sized dream that blessed me and fifty other women. All because God could see more than I could. He could see “the more” He placed within me. And wouldn’t you know, there’s another evening of encouragement planned for this month as well!

We don’t have to worry about the results. We can trust them to God, the author of our dreams. All we need to do is be obedient when God says it’s time to brush off our dreams and give them life.

May this year be the year our God-sized dreams are realized. Not necessarily for our sake, but more for God’s and others’.

Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!
1 Peter 4:10-11 (MSG)

I’m cheering you on and praying for you today. Happy New Year!

Shared by: Julie Lefebure

This post is based off Holley Gerth’s book, You’re Made for a God-sized Dream.