I’m trying to catch up with myself. J Okay, let me
explain if I may. Being ahead of one’s
time in some areas of life while being behind schedule in other areas requires
one to “catch up” in order
to bring alignment to one’s entire being.
Because I’ve always been a dreamer (I cannot recall a time in my life
when I was not dreaming, whether while awake or sleeping) and a visionary I
often keep my eyes open for opportunities to move forward, or to create new opportunities in some
way. “Your gift
will make room for you” one writer said. Proverbs 18:16. One of the gifts in/for the art of leadership
is being an opportunist by creating opportunities, not just seizing them i.e.
carpe diem. But using one’s talents,
gifts, insight and foresight to create something which doesn’t yet exist in
order to do something that is not yet being done.
Years ago, six years after I began writing songs and lyrics I
allowed some special friends to read them as I prepared to record my first
album. After reading only a few, the
wife said to me “you are before your time. This current world and environment is not
ready for you.” I asked
“but how can
that be? If I exist now and God created
me to be alive now in this generation and dispensation, how can I be before my
time? When am I thus supposed to be?” For a short minute I became afraid that who
and what I am would be placed on a back burner and forgotten because what I
have to offer is not desired or welcomed.
But then I forged ahead anyway and went into the studio shortly
thereafter and recorded my first album “Are You
Tempted to Turn?”
Sure enough, I was before my time.
My “then” audience
was not ready to receive the songs and lyrics I was receiving from God, neither
were the musicians “out-of-the-box” thinkers
with the creativity necessary to work with me to interpret those songs and
lyrics for that generation.
But how can a person be born before
his or her time? I really don’t know,
but in my case I believe my problem was I lived in the future and thus I could
see what, and who I could and wanted to be and do, and I put all of my energies
and resources into bringing that future into my present. By doing so I rocked the boat and sang in a
different key, and danced and marched to the beat of a different drummer. I made those around me uncomfortable for my
dreams made me too large and heavy for them to support, in more ways than
one. I eventually found myself alone
with my dreams, before their time. Some
special sister friends used to call me “Josephine
the dreamer” because I reminded them of another famous
dreamer. J “Now Joseph
had a dream and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him still more. And he said to them, Listen now and hear, I
pray you, this dream that I have dreamed:
And they said one to another, See, here comes this dreamer and master of
dreams.” (Genesis
37:5, 6, 19) Amplified Bible.
A few months ago I had a
dream J in which a family member
booked me a plane ticket but failed to tell me what time the flight was. On the morning of the flight she drove me to
the airport and I asked “what time is my flight”? And she
responded, “Oh you have time”. And then she dropped me off and drove
away. I walked into the airport to the
desk and handed the lady my ticket for I believed my international flight to be
in three hours. When she looked at the
ticket she said “your plane leaves now!” I became alarmed for I was missing my
flight. She said “it is still
on the runway, let’s go!”
And we started to take off running, when she suddenly stopped and said “wait, I
will call the pilot and tell him you are here.” She used her walkie-talkie to call the pilot
and then said to me “you have time, he will wait for
you.” End of dream.
Hmmmm. When I woke up I
let my thoughts rise into conversation with God in this way: “years ago I
was before my time, but now I’m about to ‘miss my flight’ because I’m
late. How does one find the balance so
he/she is ‘on time’”?
As I often listen to the Lord ministering to
my soul, I’ve been learning that one can be ahead of her time in one area of
life, behind time in another, and on time in others. (But God is never late. He’s always on time and He can redeem time
for us.) For example, being a visionary
and a dreamer energizes you to move forward towards the fulfillment of your
dreams, and many times if one’s family of origin life is not a warm and
affectionate one, the development of one’s character gets pushed to the side
while all concentration is placed upon the perfecting of one’s skills, gifts,
and talents. So if per chance you are in
the right place at the right time for your talents to be noticed and your
career is created and takes off, you may be on time or ahead of your time
concerning your gifts and talents, but you are behind schedule mentally,
emotionally and interpersonally. Your
people skills, especially those with yourself have not been developed and
strengthened, and you can be easily influenced and controlled by the whims,
desires, needs and promises of others.
Inside you lack the foundation to stand on your own two feet and not be
manipulated by outside forces.
But I believe that if a
person is on schedule in the area of character development she will not be too
far behind schedule concerning her purpose in life. For she would not have found it necessary to
hide inside of her dreams to escape present day living. There would be no need to play “catch up” for she
would be in step with the cadence of the marching band of her life.
Many children today are born with gifts which are quickly
noticed by their parents and are erroneously exposed to the world prematurely because they lack the mental, emotional, and spiritual capacity to deal with
the pressures of being a celebrity. And
so do their parents. Some people on the
other hand seem to never get that break they need to move forward no matter how
long they study and develop. But the one
area where we can never go wrong is the one in healthy, character
development. No matter how early or late
we get started, we will always come out ahead when we take the time it takes to
improve our characters. I believe this
is the one area in our society that most of us are behind schedule in. We all have some catching up to do, because
the last thing our world needs is another generation of empty-headed, cold-hearted
who’s got talent and wants to be a millionaire wannabees J leading us throughout the 21st century
down a slippery slope of . . . Need I
say more?
“And I will restore or replace for you the years that the locust has eaten- the hopping
locust, the stripping locust, and the crawling locust, My great army which I
sent among you. And you shall eat in
plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord, your God, Who has
dealt wondrously with you. And My people
shall never be put to shame.” (Joel 2:25-26)
Peace.
