I’ve been working on a devotional series called, “Dream Big”. For the last two days we’ve been focusing on being prepared to move forward in accomplishing the dream that God has placed in your heart. One Scripture is I Kings 2:4, “So that the Lord may carry out His promise which He spoke concerning me, saying, ‘If your sons are careful of their way, to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.” David was nearing the end of his reign as king and he was giving instructions to Solomon about what he needed to do in order to follow his father in leading Israel. God had instructed David to tell his son that he needed to walk in righteousness and in truth before the Lord so that God could bless him and prosper him.
We also need to walk before God in truth, being careful that our lives are righteous before Him. Part of being careful with how we live our lives or see that we realize the fruition of the dreams God has placed in us is being prepared for whatever may come our way. Solomon had to watch his attitude, his actions, his words, everything he did needed to be pure before God so that he would be prepared to take over after David in ruling the nation.
The other Bible Journaling verse is from Matthew 25:4, “but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps.” In this parable, Jesus is telling His listeners that they needed to be prepared for the end of days with He would return to take Believers to Heaven at the end of time. The Bible says that no one knows when that will be, even Jesus doesn’t know, only God the Father. In the parable, 10 virgins were waiting to go to the wedding feast. The foolish virgins didn’t bring enough oil for the long wait. The wise (or prudent) virgins brought enough oil for their lamps to be able to burn throughout the night while they waited for the bridegroom to come and call them to the feast. The foolish virgins ran out of oil and asked the wise virgins for some oil. But the wise told the foolish that if they shared their oil with them there would not be enough for all of them throughout the night and told the foolish virgins to go buy oil for themselves. While they were out getting oil, the bridegroom came and called the virgins to the feast. When the foolish virgins came to the door of the banquet hall where the feast was, they were turned away because the bridegroom didn’t know who they were and wouldn’t let them in. This is a forecasting of what it will be like for those who haven’t repented of their sins and asked Jesus to be their Lord and Savior. Jesus was telling them that because no one knows when He would return, they needed to be prepared for His return at any moment.
Preparation is part of seeing the fulfillment of the dreams that God has placed in us. What do we need to do to lay a foundation for our God-birthed dreams to come to fruition? Maybe God has laid upon your heart to be a music minister, have you invested in music lessons, or going to college to get a degree in music so that you will be effective in reaching others for Christ through your music? Or God may have called you to be a minister, what steps have you taken to prepare yourself for being the shepherd of a flock at a local church? Have you set down and written out a plan?
I must admit, I’m really bad at planning out things when it comes to seeing where I will be in five or ten years. My attitude has basically been, God is going to do what He wants to regardless of what my plans are. But there is wisdom in sitting down and at least researching what it is that needs to be done for your dream to be realized. That’s something I’m working on…I’m definitely not there yet. My husband, on the other hand, is a planner! He plans everything out to the very last detail, going over the plan repeatedly. I’m more spontaneous and have a tendency to do things on the spur of the moment. That doesn’t work too well in planning a future.
So, preparation is key in seeing our dreams realized and become successful. Sit down, take a few minutes, and think about what it is that needs to be done to build a foundation for your dream and then step out in faith and accomplish that which God has put in your heart.
donnasmusings 