The Things That Make You Go "Whoa!"

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Amazing Things Come With Surrender

When we pursue our dreams, grab a hold of God’s plan for our lives and fully surrender, then wonderful things start happening. 

The Bible says, God lays our paths straight. 

Psalms 37:23 says “The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.”

Look around you. Are there people in your life that are impacting you on more than just a natural level? Are there people challenging you emotionally, spiritually, and mentally, to be better? Are there people suddenly popping into your life teaching you new skills, or make connections for you that you could have never made on your own? 

This is God ordering your footsteps. 

Dreams Take a Team 

I once heard Walter Hallam say “God either gives you a vision, or adds you to a vision.” 

Dreams are bigger than one person. Behind every NBA star there was a mom or dad taking the kid to practice, or a coach that saw something great in the player. We cannot accomplish everything on our own. 

For Joseph (Genesis 37-45) it took family, slave traders, a businessman, a cook , a butler, and a Pharaoh before his dream, the one he had at 17, could even begin to take place. As unlikely as the team was, as unusual as the circumstances were, Joseph determined to serve God above any other. God added those that were necessary to accomplish what He had showed Joseph. 

Keep Working 

When Joseph was wrongly thrown into a well and sold by his brothers into slavery, he could have given up. He could have done only what was required by his new owner, but he did more than was asked of him and he was promoted. He did the work. 

When he was thrown in prison after he was falsely accused of rape, he could have given up, but he kept working, and ran the prison for the warden. 

His work ethic and his faithfulness to God opened doors that were unforeseen. 

The Things That Make Me Go “Whoa!” 

Recently, after being chosen for the Platform Launch Team, I have had amazing opportunities to meet some amazing writers, publishers, videographers, and spiritually adept men and women. After taking Jeff Goins’ advice I invited one of those people to coffee. 

Dana Pittman is an author, a lawyer, a mom, a homeschooler, a wife, a videographer, a runner, a crafter, a blogger, and a pretty awesome woman of God! Our first meeting was actually more like a reunion and a brainstorming session all wrapped up into one. Soon we will be doing a series together and sharing it with you here and on her website. 

Why am I telling you this? Because I believe my footsteps have been ordered. God has brought Dana into my life (and by extension into yours) for a reason. 

If you look around in your life, I bet you can find your “Dana” too. 

Keep Seeking 

“And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” Matthew 21:22

Do not get distracted by the cool things that are going on around you. God has a plan, but your relationship is not about the plan. Relationship is about getting closer to Him. Don’t get the two things mixed up. Martha did and Jesus rebuked her in front of a houseful of guests. 

Seek ye first the kingdom of God (the work) and His righteousness (the relationship) and (then) all these things will be added to you! 

Question: Has God ever done something for you that made you stop and say “Whoa!”?

Your Dream: Small Beginnings Big God

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“Who despises the day of small things?” Zechariah 4:10

I wonder? 

I have been guilty of this. I think there are so many times when we look back (hind sight being 20/20) and say ‘who would have thought all of this would have started like that?’ 

Recently, at my mom-in-love’s 75th birthday party, someone asked her that very question as they looked around at all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. Her reply? 

“God did.” 

God is a God of small beginnings. 

The Bible is full of examples of small beginnings. 

· The manger
· A shepherd boy becoming a king
· A widow picking left over grain on the edge of a field 

Everyone starts somewhere. 

Joseph started his journey to greatness in the bottom of a well, cast aside by his family, alone, hungry, in the dark and damp. He had a dream. God gave it to him. His small beginnings were not just a way to keep Joseph humble; they were a way to bring God all the glory. 

There are moments when you will feel the momentum of the Spirit pushing you. You will know that there is something brewing. Change in the air and sparks of creativity and clarity are lighting up your world. 

Then there will be those moments when your but is bigger than your faith. I get it. I have been there. These moments are the important ones. These are the make it or break it moments of your dream. 

“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9

More so than the great triumph of getting started, the real victory is in follow through. 

For me I have had plenty of starts. I have started books numerous times, I have started hobbies that never really go anywhere, but at the start I had all the hope and excitement I could muster. I threw myself into whatever project I had going. I became compulsive to the point that I was consumed with the work rather than the process. 

Aesop had something right. “Slow and steady wins the race.” Be the turtle, not the hare. 

Do not get worn down because you get bogged by details. Do not sweat the small stuff. God sees where He has you and where you are going. 

God is not confused. 

His plans for you are the same in your moment of doubt as they were in your moment of clarity. He has not changed his mind about you. 

So do not look around at your small beginnings and mistake them for “smallness”. Your dreams are bigger than you. The only way they will come to pass is by relying on God to add to your humble offering and multiply it into something that brings Him glory. 

Do not despise your small beginning. Get excited. The widow in the field married well and lived happily ever after. The shepherd who became king made mistakes, but God called him a man after His own heart. That manger housed the most amazing gift of all: a Savior for mankind. 

Small beginnings means there is plenty of room for God to do BIG things. 

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Lessons for a Gypsy

List out all you have done in your life and you may sound like me: a gypsy. I have been a waitress, a secretary, worked in retail, sold manufactured homes, drove a cab, was a professional Christmas tree decorator, an editorial assistant, a staff writer, a grant writer, a volunteer coordinator, a medical office manager, a mother, a wife, a friend, a parishioner and do you know what that qualifies me for? Me neither, but God does. What makes me qualified to do this blog? The world has one answer but God has another. Those He calls He qualifies. Let’s look at a perfect example: Joseph.

(Genesis 37-46 is the story of Joseph.)

The next to the last child, Joseph was loved dearly by his parents. His father looked on him with special favor, because he was the first child born of Rachel, who Jacob loved dearly. 

Now, this kid Joseph had a problem: he did not know when to shut up.

I so know what THAT is like, since I have the same problem on a regular basis.

Let’s face it, little brothers get picked on, and Joseph had eleven older brothers. Little brothers also like to prove themselves to their older siblings, and that is where Joseph’s real trouble all began.

Now some of you may say, no, wait, didn’t his trouble begin with a fancy coat? Well, an extravagant gift from his pops did bring him a lot of negative attention from the jealous brothers, but it was not the problem. The problem was Joseph’s pride, and pride is a heart issue.

If I can, please allow me this observation: when other people have a wrong opinion, or attitude and it is directed to us, we have to be mature enough to realize one thing- it is their problem. Our only responsibility is how we react to them, not how they feel about us, or what they think. We should not jump through hoops to please them or impress them. We should serve God, and be who He meant us to be, and let the rest be. (Matthew 6:33)

Joseph felt he needed to impress his brothers, to earn their respect by boasting about what God had showed him in a dream, instead of allowing God to work things out in His time. Let it go, and let God promote you.

Now- Joseph did have a dream: a God-given dream. One he did not, and could not, at the age he was (just a teen) understand fully. And that dream was eventually accomplished, but what a road Joseph had to travel to get prepared for the fullness of it.

He was sold into slavery, (Genesis 37:36) and Genesis 39:2 says “The Lord was with him”. He put his head down and worked, and he got promoted. Then the unthinkable happens.  He gets sexually harassed, and then falsely accused of rape. Joseph’s life quickly took a wild turn, but he held his own.

Remember: he had talked too much before, as a kid, but now he was silent. Joseph learned part of the lesson God had for him. He did not cry “victim” He did not seek “justice”: he was still, and to anyone looking on - it looked like he was not only guilty, but now not worth anything. Now he was just another convict, a nobody: not worthy of esteem, respect, or trust, but Genesis 39:21 says the Lord was with him.

Have you felt like this? Like the world sees you as less than? Or worse yet, have you felt like they didn’t see you at all? Have you felt like things just are not working in your favor, because they are not going according to your plan or timetable? Do not give up. Press on. Keep going. Keep serving. (Genesis 40:4)

Joseph did and eventually he not only got free of the holding pattern his life seemed to be in, but he was promoted to the second highest office in the land. He interpreted Pharaoh’s dream, and he gave God the glory. (Genesis 41:16)

 “Pursue the desire of your heart in the name of Jesus, giving glory to God in both the big and the small things, and you will be in the will and call of God for your life”- Pastor Jimmy Kirby.” (What do you Mean…?)

This is the promotion that leads to the eventual fulfillment of Joseph’s very first dream. Do you think Joseph thought his life would take so many turns before his dream was achieved? He was thrown into a well, sold into slavery- twice, falsely accused of a crime, imprisoned, forgotten and discounted as unworthy. BUT GOD! God was with him, and God is with us!   Do not doubt that! Do you think that while all this stuff was going on, Joseph saw the big picture? No, but God did.

So when you are locked in that cubicle, or imprisoned in circumstances you feel like are insurmountable, remember Joseph and the lessons we can take from him.

Lesson one for a gypsy: Don’t let our pride get in the way.  (Proverbs 16:18)

Lesson two for a gypsy: God is for us –so who can be against us?  (Romans 8:31)

Lesson Three for a gypsy: Serve no matter where you are. (Genesis 40:4)

Lesson Four for a gypsy: Give God the glory in all things, big and small. (Genesis 41:16)

As you travel through life my fellow gypsies, you are being prepared, so what lessons are you paying attention to? 

Be blessed and be a blessing and remember that prepare is a verb.