Encouragement for Today - Aug. 12, 2010
August 12, 2010
Do You Have a Dream?
"If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones…"
Luke 16:10 (NLT)
Devotion:
Do you have a dream to do something? In my early twenties, I started and failed at five different jobs before helping start Proverbs 31 Ministries. Lately, I've been getting many emails asking how I helped start this ministry. I always wish I could reveal three well defined steps that led me to this place where I'm at today doing what I know I was made to do. But my journey was not well defined nor were there easy steps. I stumbled here.
My friend who asked me to join her in getting this ministry off the ground named it. I was with the ministry for close to four months before it occurred to me that maybe I should read Proverbs chapter 31 in the Bible. I had never done that.
I had an argument with God after reading Proverbs 31, telling Him all the reasons He had definitely called the wrong gal to be part of a ministry named after a woman who truly had it all together.
At that point in my life, I had one child who made me cry every day with feelings of being completely overwhelmed and a struggling marriage.
But God.
I love those two words when you put them together.
He makes a way where there is no way. He loves to use unlikely people so He gets all the credit for any good that comes from their frail and faulty efforts. I'm convinced He wasn't looking for the most qualified person, He was simply looking for a woman who would dare to say yes to Him.
So, how in the world did God ever grow this ministry from the tiniest seed to where it is today?
I'm convinced my job all along was never to figure out how to grow the ministry or how to run a successful ministry. My job all along was to simply be obedient to God. My job was obedience, God's job was results. That's true no matter what we're pursuing - be it a job, a spouse, a calling or a dream.
I had to be obedient to God in the small things and the big things. Some days as a woman in ministry my big job was to change diapers with a good attitude and apologize to my husband for acting so stubborn. Other days it was to have coffee with a woman and simply listen to her heart. Still other days it was to write an article that would only be read by 35 readers of our small little newsletter at the time.
You see God never let this ministry outgrow my capacity to be obedient to Him.
As I put together a team, I looked for people who had the same passion to say yes to God. As He found me and my team faithful with the little things, bigger opportunities came. It hasn't been easy and we certainly have not been found to be obedient every day, but we've been determined to never give up.
Proverbs 31 Ministries unfolded very, very slowly. This ministry has been 17 years of waking up each day, lifting up our willingness to be obedient to God that day, and simply following wherever He leads us with a "yes" heart.
If you feel a tug at your heart to pursue some sort of a dream, let it unfold slowly. And realize you can start today. Simply ask God to place that one obedience-assignment in front of you today and say yes. Who knows what could possibly start from there…
Dear Lord, no matter what the dreams are that You've placed on our hearts, may we be found obedient in the small things first. And help us to remember our job is to be obedient to You and then You will take care of the results. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Related Resources:
Visit Lysa's interactive website today for a list of three crucial things every woman following a dream should know…click here.
Lysa is speaking in over 40 cities this year and she'd love to meet you! To check for a city near you, click here. Next month Lysa will be in Atlanta at Charles Stanley's church and then at the Fresh Grounded Faith conference in Seattle, WA. Click here for more information on Atlanta and here for more information on Seattle.
And if you'd like to move from just going through the motions with God to having a thriving relationship with Him, consider getting a copy of Lysa's latest book, "Becoming More than a Good Bible Study Girl" by clicking here.
Application Steps:
If you are following a dream, keep track of the things God teaches you along the way either through a journal or another remembrance marker.
Reflections:
What are you hoping to gain by reaching your dream? If your ultimate goal is a richer relationship with God, you will never be disappointed.
Power Verses:
Proverbs 3:1-3. "My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." (NIV)
© 2010 by Lysa TerKeurst. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
616-G Matthews-Mint Hill Road
Matthews, NC 28105
