Catching Up

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 21^st 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.