Recently I asked the Lord what is it time for now? What’s next?
On a personal level I could hear Him speaking in my heart: “It’s time to go back to the beginning, back from the future.” Perhaps when you see that statement you may
think it means to return to living in the past or rehashing and rehearsing the
past, or maybe trying to bring back
the “good ole days”. (For many people
those were not good ole days.) But
anyhoooo, that is not what He meant at all.
I could tell this because I experienced a great sense of anticipation,
something I’ve not had for a long time.
Going back from the future means going back to where life
began to get off track so you can get back on track. It doesn’t mean throwing away all the years
and life experiences one has accumulated along the way. But many of us somewhere in life stopped
“being” in the “present” and projected ourselves into the future, so we missed
a lot of “being” along the way and left behind important clues and tools we
need(ed) for our lives now. Clues to,
and tools for fulfilling our purpose
in life, so we can enjoy the journey of living in the now. Because we still have time, God has allowed
us to come full circle and “start over again”, but now from an elevated
position. Here is my short unfinished
story, and I hope it will inspire those of you who may also find yourselves
starting life over again.
I was living “alone” in my bedroom in my parents’ house –
alone in and with my thoughts and plans, and life projections, childhood
fantasies for an adult life, when it all got interrupted with the needs of life and living in the
now. I heard too much and absorbed and
assumed too much adult responsibility for myself, first in my mind, then in my
imagination, which carried me away to my first real job search at age 12. I stopped being a child dreamer and started
to become an adult worker before my time.
Even though I still dreamed of the future, now those dreams became
filled with “adult stuff” – the need to provide for myself so I would not have
to depend upon others. The American
Dream to become rich and wealthy and self-dependent. I was hit by the “I will” Mac truck. I was stung by the “I can” Bee. I was bitten by the “Me-Myself-and I” snake
of “I can do all things through ME who gives me strength.”
Don’t get me wrong, I was not a selfish child or person as
an adult, for I had lofty thoughts and plans for our family of eight to become
a large corporation of some sort. I
could not believe that God allowed us to all be born and live in that house
together without a larger-than-us purpose.
At that time I did not know what we could or would manufacture and
distribute, but I knew it would be important to and for the world. Well, at least for the United States. That was our
world. J We were a family of athletes, musicians and
singers back in the day, but then we all went our own individual ways, to do
other things.
I learned early, whether voluntarily or by coercion to give
of myself and my resources to many others, whether or not I could afford to do
so. And this fueled my need, drive, and
desire to make money – so I would always have enough left over after I had
given everything away. J I knew that in order to continue living that
way I would need to become a wealthy person, but I thought I had to do it
all. I did not think there were people
in this world who would be willing to help me accomplish something greater than
what I could do alone in order to help others.
I thought because I was the one carrying the dream, the vision,
therefore I had to do all of the work to bring it to pass. Even though I knew God was “there”, I still
had not seen Him do much in the lives
of those I lived with even though they (we) prayed to Him every day. For after I saw them huddle and plan then get
into formation, they punted the ball, threw the ball, caught the ball and ran
the ball. And yes they got tackled more
times than you can shake a cheerleader’s pom pom before they could make it to
the end zone. They did everything. They
were my She-roes. I hardly ever “saw”
God do anything. Sadly, this was and
still is for many Christians, the way of their world – “I am I-dependent”.
So now I’ve come full circle. I’m an adult now living in a foreign country
on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
But I’m alone in my room again, with my thoughts and adult needs staring
me in the face. What will I do this
time? Will I allow the needs of this
life to take me on another 20+ year trek around the world off-track of what I
was created to be and do, or will I let my dreams lead me this time? Better yet, will I allow God to lead me by and
into the dreams He has for me, but
with my eyes open this time? He’s been
dreaming longer than I have and He has a bigger head and a larger turnover rate
than I do. J
I’ve been spending some quality time sleeping, I mean
dreaming J and I’ve met some
interesting people along the way who followed their dreams through hell and
high water, and also have made an impact in our world, for good. I met more men than women, like Abraham,
Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, Samuel, Solomon, Joseph (the earthly father of Jesus),
and some Wise men. Also Pilate’s wife (I
couldn’t get close enough to get her name.
In and out like flint you know.), Paul, and John (he truly understands
what it means to be alone with your thoughts and visions). J
All of these . . . dreamers’ (visionaries) lives were
changed because they paid attention to God speaking to them in their sleep, and
waking moments. They believed the images
God imprinted on their souls were possible for they did not allow the tyranny
of the urgent, or the necessities of daily living dictate how they would
live. They lived from another dimension
enabling God to manifest His plans not only to them for their own lives, but through them for the positive effecting
and affecting of generations to come.
I never met him personally, but many still living have met
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He said “I
have a dream . . .” and because he believed his dream was possible, we are
living his dream today, all over the world, not just in America. His dream became the standard for equal
rights all over the globe covering all phases of humanity, not just
ethnicity. Steve Jobs said it
differently and our way of communicating through the internet will never be the
same. So many in our contemporary times
known and unknown to us are living their dreams and some of them are turning
our world right side up (with much difficulty too), while others are revealing
to us that their dreams are really nightmares, turning our world upside down
spinning in the opposite direction on its axis.
God forbid!
Full circle. Back
from the future. I’m back, starting over
again, but this time I won’t let fear – the fears of others becoming my fears
(no thank you very much) – dictate how I Won’t live my life. Some gifts we just need to refuse adamantly
and fear is one of them, because fear disables.
Faith and love empower and enable us to live above our needs (not being constricted and controlled by them),
by-passing the temptations of greed, to rise above our one-dimensional desires
to sit with Christ and see ourselves from His
perspective. A place where all things
are possible with God, in the plan
and will of God. (Yes, that place is somewhere over Noah’s
rainbow. Can you say “covenant”?) J “And He raised us up together [giving us
joint seating with Him] in the heavenly sphere [by virtue of our being] in
Christ Jesus (the Messiah, the Anointed One).” Ephesians 2:6 (Amplified Bible)
Keep dreaming. Keep
seeing. Keep hoping. Keep believing. Go back and get your dreams and ask God to
help you make them happen. Better yet, ask Him to fill you with His dreams for your life. Because we
have today, we still have time. I still have a dream. Rinnnng!!!! It’s time to wake up!
Peace.
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