Graduates, dreams, fear, and the promised land

It’s graduation time of year.
That spring has sprung time where all those who are about to talk into a new stage in life as they walk across the graduation stage send out the invitations (and let’s be honest the real reason to send out the invitations is to get the ..um.. graduation money! You all know it is true)

( I don’t know the friendly fellow on this invitation I stole it from google images)

As the graduate you walk across that stage with great expectations of what is next.

I remember when I graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan College.  It was a very very hot day.  I’m talking blazing hot.  The kind where basically the graduation robe you are wearing outside on the soccer field feels like saran wrap or aluminum foil and you feel like a baked potato in the oven about to explode (or maybe that was just me)

I remember being sad.  College had been the BEST time for me.  I had been blessed with an incredible group of fun loving Jesus friends and we had a blast.  And well like most graduates I was not sure what was next.  I could not imagine life getting better to be honest.  But as I walked across the stage I remember the Lord whispering to my heart as I got that diploma

The Lord whispered I am taking you on a journey to your promised land.
Now I am still not sure exactly what that promised land looks like/is.
But i love that the Lord said in that first phrase
I AM
taking you with me.
The Great I AM.. the God of the universe.. journeying with me.
Do you hear the God of the universe whispering that to you in your God sized dreams. 
Or do you hear the Loud whispers of fear?
I am having a blast studying the book God Sized Dreams by Holley Gerth with you.  We are in Chapter 5 :  A guide to overcoming your fear!
One of my favorite things she talks about in this chapter is that you and I should release ourselves of the guilt we feel for feeling afraid… that we often resist fear in such a way that we sidestep anything that causes fear because it feels like a threat. 
God sized dreams will bring fear. No matter how big or little your God sized dream is.  Maybe it is to go back to school, to stay home with your kids, to invest more in your marriage, to be filled with boldness, to get healthy. 
I love what page 89 says, ”  Do not be afraid appears more than any other place  in the story of the Israelites going to the Promised Land. God says, ” Do not be afraid, ” and then He gives instructions about what to do next– commands like going into battle, that he knows will cause even more fear to spring up.  In essence He’s telling his people, like a father would tell their kids when they’re scared in the dark, or about to jump off into the high dive for the First time.  Don’t be afraid, Go ahead and jump, it will be OK.”

So if you are graduate going into the next thing: Don’t be afraid Go ahead and jump into pursuing the heart of God who will teach you how to pursue your dreams.
So if you are a 30something stuck in the same thing:  don’t be afraid, Go ahead and jump into pursuing the heart of God , who will teach you how to pursue your dreams.
So if you are mom busy changing diapers:  Don’t be afraid.  Go ahead and jump into pursuit the heart of God , who will teach you how to pursue your dreams.
See your dreams are the promised land God has for you– because you have to take Him along on the journey.
Part of it is the journey.
Bruce Wilkinson says, ”  When you think about it, stepping through fear is a small price to pay for a BIG dream.  That one step– that we face many times in our lives– must be the universal price tag God had in mind.  I think God wants to know whether we really want the wonderful gift of His dream in our life.”
Heart work:
1) What are your great fears right now.  List them. Give them a name,  then slowly in prayer take them to Jesus, the NAME above every name.
2)  Journal through a time when you stared a fear face down and conquered it.
3) How do your fears cripple you when it comes to your God sized dream.
4)  1 John 4:18 perfect love casts out fear.  Write a love letter to yourself from God using His word. Make it personal. Put your name in it.  When the ugly fear tries to capture you, read that beautiful love letter 

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4 Comments

  1. I think some of my biggest fears are just not knowing exactly what God wants me to do…and feeling discontent if the dream isn't what I'd hoped for. I have a little plaque on my bathroom wall that my sister game me that says Sometimes God doesn't give you what you think you deserve because He wants so much more for you….or something like that. But it is true. I may think I have it all figured out, but what if I am short changing myself out of what God really wants for me!