How devoted are you to pursuing your God-given dream? What are you willing to sacrifice to make the dream happen? Or are you in the camp that if God meant it to happen, it will? You don’t need to bother with the details?
Guess what? God created us for a purpose. He created you, yes, you for mission in this life that only you can fulfill.
Our first and foremost purpose is developing a relationship with Him. Without a personal, loving, two-way relationship with God, where we surrender to His authority, then there is no reason to do anything. There is no reason to pass go and collect $200 as in the popular board game Monopoly. Once we come under His authority and realize His leadership is what brings us peace and rest, then we can create a plan of devotion.
See, I believe if we use our gifts and talents to bring about the dreams God has put in our hearts, we are showing devotion to Him. He knows our hearts and why we do what we do. He may bless us monetarily through our gifts and talents or He may bless us other ways such as feeling the joy of His pleasure when we are doing what He created us to do.
Whatever His blessing, are we willing to accept what He gives us as we pursue our dreams? If my writing is only meant to change one person, am I okay with that? If I’m honest with myself, it’s a tough pill to swallow because I selfishly want to have a bigger impact than only one person. However, am I then doing it for my ego or God’s glory?
Ouch.
The answer is, if I’m not willing to accept the small, but important results, how can God trust me with an even bigger outreach? The truth is, until I fully entrust my dream, the process to get there, and the results to God, I can’t begin creating the plan of devotion to the true Dream Maker.
So what does a plan of devotion look like?
I’m so glad you asked. This plan comes with the assumption that we already have a relationship with God. If this is a foreign concept to you, this is step one in creating a plan of devotion.
- Be still. This seems counterintuitive when we’re developing a plan. We want action steps and to-do lists. Instead, the challenge is to be still and be with God. In Psalm 46:10 (NIV) it says, “He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” We need to hear what God wants to tell us, not only in life, but in the dreams He’s given us. There are things we may need to uncover and face before we can move forward with our dreams. It could be the lies the enemy has been whispering in our hearts for so long that we need to hear God’s truth over our lives first before we can do anything else. So sit quietly with God. Write down what you hear even if it sounds weird or ridiculous. God will speak to us in our own unique way if we have our spiritual ears tuned into Him.
- Write it down. Besides writing down what you hear from God, write down the vision of your dream. It might start out as a few words, a snippet of what God is calling you to do or it maybe you have it fully fleshed-out after taking time to be still with God. I started with a few words and ask God what else I should add to make this the dream He wanted for my life. After writing and rewriting, I finally came up with a fully fleshed-out, written goal for my life which has been guiding me for the past year. Yes, there has been some tweaks over that year, but the core message has stayed the same.
- Move. This is where some faith walking comes in. We need to be ready for where God is leading us. Are we willing to step out of the comfort zone into the adventure God has waiting for us in His open arms? This is the final step in creating a plan of devotion. Following God where He leads us with the dreams He’s given us.
Are you ready to create a plan of devotion? Share in the comments below to encourage others.