Category Archives: Trust

May29

A Whole New World

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Teri

Teri curly - smI have a big decision to make. It’s likely one of those life changing decisions.

And I’m scared.

It would be much easier to avoid the decision completely. Or make the easiest decision and just stick with the status quo. The same old, same old, is oh-so-much-easier than flinging yourself into the unknown of new possibilities.

Just about everything in my humanness is telling me to stay with what I know. It isn’t the promised land, but at least I know what to expect.

Yet, I’m pretty sure I’m supposed to go a different direction.

And I’m afraid.

What if I’m wrong? What if where I go isn’t as good as where I’ve been? And if I make a mistake, what will people think of me?

I’ve been here before and often. At least, I don’t freak out as much as I did before. Although it is easier than it used to be, it still isn’t easy.

Walking in “The Way” of Jesus isn’t as easy as walking in the way of Teri. If I was directing my own steps, I’d make life more secure, more sure, more safe. I’d make sure that the leaps of faith I had to take were more like manageable hops of certainty.

God seems less concerned than I am about my being comfortable and secure in circumstances. If I’m not mistaken, God’s gig is to help us grow comfortable and secure in him.

So the question is, “Do I trust God enough?”

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

aladdin-and-jasmine-carpet1(I can’t help it, but I keep seeing a scene from Aladdin where he reaches his hand out to Jasmine and says, “Do you trust me?”)

When I coach others in a similar situation, I tell them, “If you’ve done the due diligence of prayer, fasting, seeking, and listening, and if you still think you’re supposed to make the decision, then start down that road. Get the bicycle rolling. God can steer something moving easier than he can something frozen and immobile.”

I gotta say, it’s a lot easier to give that advice than take it.

So, I get the bicycle rolling and move in the direction I think I should go. I trust. I listen. I ask for forgiveness when I don’t trust. I cling to God’s promises and keep going.

And I keep my eyes peeled for God’s hand at the steering wheel.

What’s the net result in living life like this?

I experience what God has planned for me.

And from my limited experience so far, it is better than what I would have planned. Not necessarily easier , but better.

“But, as it is written,

‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
    nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him’—” 1 Corinthians 2:9

What decisions do you need to make today?

Jan9

Pressing Delete

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Teri

CAM00022The last couple of years of my life have been a study in crazy, wacky, illogical things. I sold or gave away just about everything I owned. Moved to Georgia. Worked for basically nothing. Tried to build a new ministry from scratch with no budget and simply not enough talent, resources, or time.

Then I traipsed around the country, dragging my young daughter and a few other twenty-somethings with me. Going from city to city, church to church, house to house, to see what kind of Kingdom dreams God was stirring up.

Now, I’m back in Iowa, hold up in a tiny hamlet just outside of Des Moines, putting the finishing touches on a novel that’s been in the works for over a year.

And I did all this because I really believe with all my heart that God told me to do it.

My pocket book is a little lighter and I’m a tad more tired than I was before God yanked me from my comfort zone.

YET…

I’m more alive than I ever could have dreamed or imagined.

I’m gonna tell you true…I will take abundant life over a heavier pocket book any day.

One of the most precious gifts I’ve learned through this topsy-turvy life I’ve been living is the freedom in pressing delete. (Check out this post from the other day for the back story.)

I get the question all the time, “How do you know you can hear from God? How do you know he told you to do those things?”

The frank answer…I don’t know for sure.

I prayed…I fasted…I searched out Godly counsel…I listened…I surrendered…and then I obeyed the best as I could.

I guess I subscribe to the very simple belief that when I meet Jesus face to face, I’d rather have him say, “You trusted me just a little too much” than “Why didn’t you trust me more?”

Have I made mistakes? You bet I have!

Have I caused myself more pain than necessary? Oh yeah.

Will I keep believing you can hear from God? Yep.

Will I keep doing things that don’t make sense to the world? Absolutely! When God asks me to. (I don’t really want to go looking for the wacky things.)

Why?

Because, through the grace of God, I’ve been given a delete button. One that I can push after I mess up. All I have to do is repent and receive the forgiveness that is freely offered, press delete, and get back at it.

Does that mean I don’t continue to work out my salvation with fear and trembling? Are you kidding?!

The delete button is not our excuse to keep on sinning. I remember someone saying once, “God forbid!”

It’s my freedom.

Freedom to be flesh yet strive to operate from a spirit-filled place.

Too many dreams die because we fear messing them up. Far too many!

The delete button offers us the way to walk in freedom and power despite our weakness.

It was paid for by Christ’s blood. Purchased on our behalf, for our freedom and sanctification.

God doesn’t want our weaknesses to inhibit us from following his leading. He wants to show his glory through our weaknesses!

I am weak and imperfect. I stumble. I fall. I get up. I ask forgiveness, press delete, and press on.

I didn’t recognize the power of the delete button until I was pulled out of my well-oiled life of comfort and thrust into something decided uncomfortable.

Sometimes, God asks us to do crazy, wild, wacky things in order to show us what an incredibly awesome and beautiful God he is.

What do you need to press delete on today?

Jan1

YEEEEEE HAAAAAAAW!

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Teri

CAM00022I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. Haven’t for years. Instead, I pray a lot, seek a lot, ask a lot, and find out what God wants me to learn about in the next year. (You can hear from God, believe it or not. I think He actually likes being asked.)

The first year, God answered me with one simple, yet incredibly powerful word, “surrender”.  I heard that word for the next five years. Even wrote a book about it. I guess God will keep you in a lesson until you really, really learn it!

Last year, I heard the word, “courage”. (That’s kind of like hearing, “patience”…I wasn’t really keen on how I might get to learn that lesson.) Read about the year for courage here.

I used to believe that real courage was hoisting up your slingshot to go after a really big giant. Or girding up your weapon belt and heading to the front for one really big battle.

I found out this year that those things are true. But, it takes even more courage to face the small battles day after day after day. You have to have the heart of a lion to keep going even when you don’t feel like it, even when everything seems to be going against you, and even when you feel like you’ve been going forever and you aren’t making any headway.

I learned that big dreams are won by
persevering through a million small battles.

Some of those battles you win and some you don’t, but you keep going anyway. And that takes uncommon courage…

I’ve found five keys to this kind of courage:

1. Forgive me for stating the obvious, but…KEEP GOING. Get up and keep on keeping on. Do what you know to do. Do it even when it’s the last thing you want to do. I don’t care if you do it half-heartedly, just keep doing it. At some point, your heart will catch up.

** Just a little suggestion – Have people around who will believe in you even when you don’t and who aren’t afraid to kick you in the backside when you need it.

2. TRUST GOD. Pray, seek, ask, knock, and listen to the best of your ability. Then obey and trust. It will be difficult and probably will border on insanity occasionally. It will mostly likely go against all common sense and the desire of every molecule of your humanness, but it will be the greatest adventure you’ve ever had. Guaranteed.

** I believe how much we experience abundant life is in direct proportion with how passionately we pursue Christ. In the end, the dream is never more important than the One who gave us the dream. Pursue and trust with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. God is worth it.

3. CELEBRATE the adventure. Worship, jump, dance, scream “yeeehaaaaaw!” Or if you are a Doctor Who fan, “Geronimo!” Joy is an antidote for a lot of our ills. God is amazing and He loves to do amazing things. Don’t miss a one of ‘em!

4. And when you get it wrong, PRESS DELETE. Living as a Holy Spirit led follower of Jesus Christ is hard. You will make mistakes.You will hear incorrectly. You will not obey completely. Face it…you’ll screw up.

Yet, the greatest power in the universe is the Gospel of Grace. We live in the freedom that God has already forgiven us. So, repent and receive the forgiveness that’s already been paid for and then…press delete in your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Gone. Done. It is finished.

5. REPEAT for the rest of your life.

These five little steps will take everything you have and then some. Courage. This is what real courage looks like lived out.

Then, when the big battles come…and they will come…you will be ready.

Are you ready?

Oct12

Rerouted – Day Three

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Teri

Day three of the tour for Team Freedom. Already God has redirected their steps.

The plan was to go to West Palm Beach today and tomorrow. There weren’t many open doors for ministry opportunities in West Palm Beach. It was going to be one of those places where the team did a lot of praying to see where God would lead them. (We call it an, “Ask the Lord” day.)

Late last night, the team found out there a dear friend was flying in to Tampa this morning because of a family emergency. Well…did you know that Tampa is only about 3 hours away?

After praying together this morning, the team decided to head straight over to Tampa to be with their friend. On the way, they decided to make some calls to a few ministries there that are serving victims of the sex-trafficking industry. Guess what? Open doors for ministry.

They needed a place to stay. Guess what? Open doors for a host.

We spent weeks planning and organizing this trip. In a matter of hours, God redirected the team to a whole new route, new ministry opportunities, and the ability to comfort a friend in a time of need. Had it been even a couple of days in either direction, the team would not have been able to respond.

He DOES lead. He DOES supply. He DOES want to invite us into what He’s doing.

All he asks is that we listen and that we’re willing to be redirected.

Are you listening? And are you willing to be rerouted?

Keep watching this blog, Facebook, and Twitter(@KDdreamtour) for updates as the team makes a whirlwind trip in America to serve those who serve in the anti-sex trafficking ministries.

Oct5

Just Let Go

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We met up with A.J. at a coffee shop near his home town of Eustis, Florida in January. He was stuck and not moving. He needed some encouragement and a little shove to get going. Now A.J. has the bicycle rolling and is letting God steer. He’s finding his way and finding Abba Father in the process. It’s been so great to watch this man of God coming alive over these past few months.

A.J.

I have two Kingdom dreams I talked about with the Dream Tour ladies last October. The first: to publish a poetry book from my year on The World Race. The second: to see a generation come fully alive in Europe (London, Ireland possible starting points for me).

Both of which I believe are in standby, or what I call “stalled“.

Either way, the past year has looked NOTHING like I thought it would. Instead of traveling more overseas, I traveled stateside.

I went from Kansas City (1 and 1/2  months) to Wisconsin and West Virginia (two weeks each) to somehow ending up in Chicago for the entire summer (after a week-long training session to be a long-term missionary). Now, I’m back in Florida, dealing with the re-entry process all over again.

I cannot say it’s been unfruitful or rewarding, but the experience has definitely been a-pesky-mosquito-under-the-net, in short a frustrating mess.

I’ve learned much about the dreaming process throughout these journeys, but even more so I have learned a LOT about Abba and myself.

Somewhere along the way, He asked me to let go of the dream to go to Ireland for two years. I’m pretty sure my face did a contortion act reminiscent of Picasso’s cubism paintings and to be honest, I was hurt. I thought I had found the place I was meant to go and live life, and I wanted to go as soon as possible. He simply said, “Let it go, son.”

And so, I have had to let go of Ireland and even the thoughts of what it would look like to begin with, as well as the possibility of publishing my poetry book at all, or any semblance of it.

Now, I’m on a simple search for contentment in Him and just being who He created me to be in all aspects of life, regardless of location and circumstance. Though, I am also currently pursuing a chance to go teach English in South Korea at the start of next year to help in the process of paying off student and parent-plus loans on the verge of stealing my sanctity.

The truth is every dream, every desire of our heart

will be a struggle to realize,

a struggle with who we are and who God is to us.

 

Through my journey, I have found Papa faithful and true to His Word. I hold onto such truth in every circumstance, especially with being home with my family all over again (it’s not always pleasant).

I know He will pull through with everything He has promised and one day I will sit in a balcony overlooking the European countryside laughing at all the apparent hardships that once stood as giants.

Check out A.J.’s poetry here. You’ll be blessed.

Sep20

Why God Allows the Pits

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Teri

“Dear Lord. It’s me. I know you’ve heard this before…a lot…but I’m really discouraged today. Couldn’t you just send a Red Sea sized miracle today and make it all go away?”

Thought I’d give you a little peak into my journal from a few days ago. There have been a few journal entries like this over the years.

Yeah. It’s never worked.

God isn’t a star that we wish upon.

I’ve often battled discouragement along this journey. I think that most passionate people do. Maybe discouragement is the flip side of the coin of passion? Same coin, just two different sides?

Right now, I’m firmly entangled in the tar pits of the dream journey – that stinky, oozing, sticky mass of road blocks, obstacles, and set backs.

It’s hard to fight the discouragement. Do you remember Atreyu in the Swamps of Sadness?

So, why would a loving God who loves to give us Kingdom dreams allow us to fall into the tar pits?

Here are a few thoughts on that…

Faith muscle workout – You fight against a lot of resistance in the tar pits. Any personal trainer knows, it’s the resistance that builds the muscles. It’s there where we strengthen our faith and perseverance.

In our weakness – God is working despite the seemingly huge obstacles. He is working in the midst of them. We may not see it now, but after we’re down the road a few miles, we will be able to look back and see God’s loving hand giving us just what we need, when we need it. We will be able to say, “In my weakness, he was strong.”  It is a promise and God has never disappointed.

Hold up here for a minute – I’m a barrel-through kind of person. I see a road block and something in me just wants to ram it! That’s good in some ways. In other ways, not so good, especially when God wants me to wait. For me, the tar pits have also been times when God’s just asking me to slow down a bit because he’s got something cooking that needs to simmer a bit.

We are in a battle – We have an enemy who seeks to kill, steal, and destroy. The tar pits are glaring reminders of that. My disappointment should only serve as a reminder that the enemy of lies has been lying to me once again.

My disappointment provides me an opportunity to ask God to reveal the lie that is beneath my despair, heal the woundedness there, and reveal the truth of his love for me. Disappointment also gives me an opportunity to repent from believing the lie that tells me God isn’t everything he says he is.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman,
“Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1

Draw near  - I cry out to God when I’m stuck in the pits. I beg him to draw near to me. Or more, I am desperate to draw nearer to him. Each day I get a little better about being desperate to be near to him even when I’m in the full-speed ahead, all systems go mode. But, being in the pits remind me just how much I need his presence.

I pray your day is filled with drawing near…

“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation  and my God.” Psalm 42:5-6a

Sep13

It Doesn’t Look Like What I Thought…

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Leah is a team member from the first Dream Tour and my lovely daughter. Her dream to stir up revival through music is rolling right along and she’s seeing some fruit from it. She thought that once she launched into her Kingdom dream that things…well…might then get easier. What she’s finding out is that it’s not easier but it is better.

Leah

The past few weeks, I’ve been under relentless attack. Insomnia was my constant companion in the night. Fatigue my best friend in the day. My insecurities, my weaknesses, were being mercilessly prodded and provoked.

The old, wounded me, threatened to come back and make herself at home. The walls of distrust I’d fought so hard to bring down, were longing to shoot back up. I could even feel them trembling underneath the surface, waiting for me to give in.

Because I knew that I was under attack by the evil one, I cried out to the Lord. “Why have you allowed this attack? I’m not sure how much more I can take!! I need you to intervene! Step in! Save me!!” To my surprise, the attacks did not stop.

They did not stop the next day, or the next. When I cried out to the Lord, certain expectations of how he would intervene. I saw myself on the front lines of a battlefield, completely exposed and unprotected, getting pummeled and brutalized. My expectation was that he would remove me from this battle that I was clearly not prepared for. That he would remove me from the pain, from the beating. That would only make sense, right?

Just this past Sunday, two weeks into the ongoing battle, I got to meet with a dear friend. She told me to read Psalm 91 (from the Message). And I did, out loud. It read like this, “You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow”

… Now, on a side note, it’s important to understand this name for God in Hebrew, for it is crucial to getting the weight of this passage. Shaddai means ‘to overpower’ ‘to destroy’ ‘to overcome’. Shaddai names God the destroyer of darkness… Pretty fitting for what comes next…

“You who sit down in the High God’s presence, spend the night in Shaddai’s shadow, Say this: ‘God, you’re my refuge. I trust in you and I’m safe!’ That’s right—he rescues you from hidden traps, shields you from deadly hazards. His huge outstretched arms protect you—under them you’re perfectly safe; his arms fend off all harm. Fear nothing—not wild wolves in the night, not flying arrows at noon. Not disease that prowls though the darkness, not disaster that erupts at high noon.

Even though others succumb all around, drop like flies right and left, no harm will even graze you. You’ll stand untouched, watch it all from a distance, watch the wicked turn into corpses. Yes, because God’s your refuge, the high God your very own home, Evil can’t get close to you, harm can’t get through the door.

He ordered his angels to guard you wherever you go. If you stumble, they’ll catch you; their job is to keep you from falling. You’ll walk unharmed among lions and snakes, and kick young lions and serpents from the path. ‘If you’ll hold on to me for dear life,’ says God, ‘I’ll get you out of any trouble. I’ll give you the best of care if you’ll only get to know and trust me. Call me and I’ll answer, be at your side in bad times; I’ll rescue you, then throw you a party. I’ll give you a long life, give you a long drink of salvation!’ “

The coolest thing about this is that the Lord had brought me to Matthew 4:1-11 a couple weeks before, and these scriptures together gave me a revelation. Matthew 4:1-11 is when Jesus is lead into the wild by the Spirit to be tested. He was weak, and tired from fasting for forty days and nights. He was susceptible to temptation, but God allowed it. When the Devil tempts him, he rebukes him by quoting scripture. Jesus stops the Devil in all three of his tests. And then the Evil one leaves, and angels come to take care of Jesus’ needs. When I read this one again, the revelation hit.

Nowhere in that scripture does it say that Jesus’ felt strong and confident that He could over come the temptations. It doesn’t say he FELT anything, except weak and hungry, and the Spirit allowed the testing even when Jesus was in a weakened state! But it does say that Jesus rebuked him with scripture, with truth… even when he didn’t FEEL it… He knew it… and used it… like a weapon… A WEAPON!

In my being attacked, I thought that God’s intervention would consist of Him removing me from the front lines of the battle. That’s what I thought it looked like. That would have been a sufficient way of eliminating the pain.

But the beautiful part is that it hardly EVER looks like, what you think it will.

Instead of him taking me out of the front lines of the battlefield, he came and stood by me. Then He put on my helmet, my armor, my boots, gave me a sword and shield, then told me the strategy to win the battle! He did not remove me from the battle, as I thought. He prepared me for it!

He didn’t want me off the field. He wanted me with him, fighting! And I’m so glad it didn’t look like what I thought it would.

The dream journey is rarely about taking us out of the battle, but more often it’s about giving us better weapons and  equipping us to use them. We’re praying for you today…all saints everywhere…that God is your refuge.

Jul11

Talk Is Cheap

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Sarah is in London now walking out more of her dream journey. This was her last blog post before heading out. I thought it was fantastic. Keep praying for Sarah and London and the Olympics.

Sarah

Two years ago, I took a literal step of faith. I got onto a plane that took me to New Zealand to start my World Race. I was petrified. I didn’t want to go. But I took that first physical step. Last year, I took another step of faith, once again onto a plane.

This time, bound for London. A couple months later, I got on another plane heading for Africa to squadlead. And tonight, I take yet another step of faith onto yet another plane as I head for London to intern with Burn 24/7.

I go because “the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (1 Corinthians 4:20).” I am so willing to say I trust God. So willing to surrender everything in theory. But His Kingdom isn’t about talk. It’s about those physical steps of faith.

Esther couldn’t just say “Mordecai I feel really bad for you.” She had to act, risking her life to go before the king and save the Jews.

David could have just said, “Oh hey look at that huge giant. Someone should do something about him.” But he didn’t.

Peter didn’t just believe Jesus was the One on the water; he got out of the boat and walked to Him.

The past year of my life has been all about that. All about that trust in action, not just words.

Because at the end of the day, it comes down to one thing. Do I believe Jesus?

Not just that He said some nice things, not just that He saved me from Hell. Do I believe that He’s sovereign in my daily life? That He loves me more than I love myself? That He actually knows best? I gotta tell you, I’ve been saying I believe those things for years.

But talk is cheap.

It’s easy to say we trust Him when things are good. When we got that new job or that new boy or that perfect dream opportunity. But what about when He tells you to do the one thing you’re petrified of and can’t imagine overcoming? To quit your job, break up with your boyfriend, give thousands of dollars away, move to a foreign country that you don’t even want to visit? When you’re out on the water and Jesus seems a heckuva lot farther than the boat, what are you gonna do?

The Kingdom of God is coming. It’s here. It’s sweeping over nations. God is pouring out His Spirit (Joel 2:28). But God is longing for us to partner with Him in it. And that takes power, not just talk. That takes believers believing God at His word and acting and trusting accordingly, no matter how petrified we are.

I want to still trust Him even as the boat drifts away. I want to be the kind of Christ follower that Esther and David and Peter would be proud to call sister. I want to be a woman of power, not just talk.

Don’t you?

You can follow Sarah’s journey on her blog.

Jun25

The Dream Four Years Later

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Teri

Four years ago this week,  I was in the Grand Teton Mountains on a high ridge overlooking the entire eastern valley and dreaming about the next season of my life. Deep down, I knew God was moving me to a whole new future.

I can’t think of many better places to try and figure out your next steps but on top of a mountain in Wyoming.

I caught a glimpse of a really big dream I felt God was showing me. I took out my journal and ended up writing for about three hours about this thing called, the “Kingdom Dreams Network.”

The goals of this network were to:

  • WAKE UP: Wake up the Body of Believers to their God-given passion and dream.
  • MOBILIZE: Help people come alive to their part of God’s Kingdom work here on earth.
  • CONNECT: Connect dreamers who shared similar passions.

I want to see a world where all believers are fully alive to
all God created them to be and do.

Lofty dream I know. But, God is a big God and I’m pretty sure God told me it is a long-term gig.

How was I supposed to do this thing?  I had no idea.

Four years later, we have some traction and a little movement toward this dream. I didn’t really expect to be traveling around in a red mini-van and living based on Luke 10 principles. But, I also didn’t expect to meet over 3,000 dreamers the first year.

On the College Tour this spring,  I felt God pressing on my heart to take the summer to rest – to take a breather from the dream and from the road and rest my body, my mind, my soul, and my passion.

It’s been nearly two months now, and I can feel my insides churning to get back out on the road. The passion is rising again. There are just too many believers out there not living the abundant life…too many dreams not being dreamed…too much work to do that’s not getting done.

But, the summer isn’t over yet.

This week, I could feel God pressing on me again to keep resting. It was the kind of hard pressing that happens when you are about to do something stupid and God is trying to save you from yourself. 

Urgh! I didn’t know resting was so hard to do!

The longer I walk on this dream journey, the more I see God’s hand working in merciful and compassionate ways.

It came to me this weekend while watching the first Harry Potter movie again. Harry was sitting in front of a magical mirror that showed his deepest desires – his greatest dreams.  He had been sitting there a long time.

Professor Dumbledore came to give him a gentle reminder, “It does not do to dwell on dreams, Harry, and forget to live.”

I was on the verge of becoming too obsessed with the dream. It’s easy to get wrapped up in living out your calling. Even living  for Jesus can get twisted in our minds to something that is more about us than it is about him.

It’s another tension we have to live in.

We need to hold fast to the dream and never give up…

yet…

We need to hold even tighter to Jesus.

I’ve come to trust in God’s timing even though I find it hard to wait. I trust God is moving even when I feel like I’m sitting still.

And I know that Jesus is even more important to me than the dream he gave me four years ago.

So, I rest and trust and wait.

To be honest, I am still a little worn out from the past four years of this journey.

I can’t tell you I’m not afraid that I’m not hearing God correctly.

I can’t tell you that I’m not afraid of losing the momentum that’s been started.

I can’t tell you I’m not afraid I’m going to miss out on something.

And, to be brutally honest, I can’t tell you I’m not afraid that some people might think I”m just being lazy and unproductive. Or that I might not think that about myself on occasion.

Yet…I also trust that if I’m not moving and I need to get moving that God can give me a kick start anytime he chooses.

So…I rest in obedience and trust that God is a big God and cares about me.

“Even youths shall faint and be weary,
    and young men shall fall exhausted;
 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40″30-31

Jun12

Should I Stay or Should I Go? (Shredding Guitar Riff)

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Teri

There seems to be a lot of “divine tensions” when living a radical Kingdom life.

  • Lose your life to find it.
  • Walking in spirit and truth; righteousness and grace.
  • Being weak and powerful at the same time.

I struggle living in these tensions fairly often.

The one that is rocking my boat right now is whether to wait for God to tell me what to do next or just taking a step and seeing what happens.

I often hear dreamers say, “I just don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I’m waiting on the Lord to show me.”

But sometimes that just a cop out for not doing anything. We play the, “waiting on the Lord” card just so we don’t have to make a commitment to something other than complacency.

On the other hand, I see dreamers just going for it and expecting God to show up. That’s great except when we do it so we can have it our own way. We can leave God behind and steer our boats where we want to go.

I’ve seen both. I’ve done both.

There is a tension between the two seemingly opposing sides. Yet there is a rhythm between them.

We seek the Lord in all we do. We ask for specific guidance and direction. We listen carefully.

AND

We diligently do the things we know we need done every single day.

If you aren’t sure what to do, try something and see what happens. If you have a passion for discipleship, go and disciple someone. If you have a heart for healing, go and ask God to heal someone. If you want to help the broken and the lost, go volunteer somewhere who ministers to the lost. Reach out to your neighbor, your friends, your family. DO something and trust that God is all about the Kingdom.

GET THE BICYCLE ROLLING and TRUST GOD TO STEER IT.

Then don’t give up. Keep going. Keep trying. Keep pressing on.

Too many times we try something and then bail at the first signs of resistance. There will always be resistance when you are doing stuff for the Kingdom.

If God is silent, then there is one of two things happening;

  • Either he’s told you to do something and you haven’t done it.

OR

  • He wants you to wait.

Knowing if he’s saying “stay” or “go” really is only a matter of practice. You keep trying and somehow God keeps perfecting us.

So if you are supposed to be going and your not, God will move you.

If you going when he wants you to stay, God will stop you.

Don’t worry that God is going to abandon you to ambiguity and uncertainty. That isn’t his style.

He will move you along at just the right speed. He will guide you in just the right way. As long as you’re willing to get out of the boat.

Here’s the bottom line to live in the tension between staying or going:

Keep your ears and eyes wide open
all the while you’re working your tail off.

God will bless even your meager and pitiful attempts as long as you’re doing it with a sincere heart.

SO….what’s God saying to you right now?

“When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.” John 10:4