Consider this statement with me for a minute as we Make Space for God together on this beautiful Monday morning: Every dream must have a plan.

Do you have a dream? Do you sense that God is calling you to do something, shift your path and follow your dreams? I recall listening to a speaker years ago and their challenge to us was to dare to dream with God. So I did and 18 years ago, I did sense a call to start a community-wide Bible study; to write my own studies and eventually make them available to small groups around the country. I took the first step…. and I was scared to death. And then the next step…

Faith wakes up when we push ourselves to follow God; when we dare to dream with Him. And when faith arises, we are able to take the next step and then the next. God is faithful. He put the seed of this dream in my heart and HE fulfilled it. But I had to take the first step. But here is the problem that we all have. We hear the lies of the enemy who says:

Did God really say? 

It’s an old trick that started in the Garden of Eden when God told Adam and Eve that they could eat of every tree in the garden except the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In other words, God was saying, “I am God and you are my most precious children. Please obey.” Now the snake (ie- satan) slivered into the garden with his lies,  “Did God really say?” He wanted them to question God and to disobey. And they did. And it was not their best choice.

So we question that the seed of the dream in our hearts was not from God after all. He didn’t really say it.

Another obstacle to our dreams is our fear. Fear is the absence of trust, filling us with anxious thoughts threatening to overtake us. Fear is the adversary to our dreams telling us that we will fail. Why even try? I have learned the hard way. It is better to try and fail than not to try at all. Often it’s the timing we get wrong; not the dream.

And lastly, our dreams are thwarted when we look at the task to accomplish our dreams and we feel inadequate. Feelings of inadequacy are rampant these days. We forget that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We forget that we are fully adequate in Christ. He supplies our needs and helps us fulfill His dreams.

Now to the point of this blog today. Every dream must have a plan. Perhaps you have overcome the three obstacles I mentioned and now you are faced with the question, “Where do I begin?” There are many Biblical precedents but I will give you just one. Moses. Yes Moses, called to lead God’s people out of Egypt. He felt inadequate, he was afraid, and he wasn’t sure he heard the call (or he would not have questioned God).

The Lord said (to Moses) I have seen how cruel my people are treated in Egypt. I have heard them cry out to be rescued from their slave drivers… Now I am sending you to the king of Egypt so that you can lead my people out of his country. 

Moses’s reply, essentially – Do what? Who, me? 

But Moses said to God, ” I am nobody. How can I go to the king and bring the Israelites out of Egypt”? 

Sound familiar? You are in good company. Moses needed a plan and after questioning God in fear, God revealed His plan step by step. 

Ask God for His plan and step out in faith trusting Him. If He planted the seed, He will carry you through. And if He didn’t, it was a good dress rehearsal in obedience. Or perhaps He gave you a dream and He is waiting for the perfect timing for all things to come together.  In the meantime, if you sense a call, pray and start a plan. That’s a good first step.