Making Circles

I have a confession to make.  

No, it's not that I'm a shoe-a-holic (although I am) and it's not that I love the smell of gun powder.  (Don't judge.)  It's not even that I believe in Big Foot and in the possibility of aliens.  (It is possible.)

I'm terrible at navigation.

If you ever spot a little red Ford Fusion stopped on the side of the road with a woman looking at her phone trying to recalculate her position, there's a good chance that's me.  I'm just terrible at directions.  Turning
around two, three, even four times because I've missed a turn is not uncommon for me.  

But there are few things that drive me crazier than when I'm lost on a highway and can't find the exit I'm supposed to take.  Even worse, when I'm lost on a turn-a-bout with other vehicles headed straight for me.  I don't know where I'm going.  Am I supposed to yield or are they?  Why did that car just pass me on my right?  What's going on?

Maybe you've been there to--frantically looking for your turn and second guessing which one you're supposed to take.  You find yourself circling again and again.  Is this the one?  No that one.  No, no, no.  It's this one.

I've found that life can be very similar to that monotonous circling looking for the correct turn, but never finding it.  So round and round you continue to go.  Moving is better than standing still, at least that's what they say.  But the point is that you're moving just to stay alive but never leaving the dizzying circle.  

For a while, making those circles can be entertaining...fun even.  But eventually the merry-go-round of life looses it's flavor and all you want to do is get off of the ride.

But how?  Which turn is the correct turn?  And how did we get on this never ending turn-about anyway.

First, we can't be paralyzed by fear.

Fear might be the most effective of all robbers in the world.  Fear will absolutely de-habilitate us leaving us paralyzed inside our own mind.  The Bible says that "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind."  John wrote that God's perfect love for us cast other all fear.

Because of His love we don't have to be afraid of that car headed straight for us.  That's just an illusion.  That car that we think we'll strike head on is enter the turn-a-bout too.  We're safe if we'll follow the directions.

Second, we have to keep an open mind and avoid a critical attitude.

I have found myself becoming so critical of other people.  It's wrong and I know it and it keeps me from moving on to my destiny.  I judge people for having, what I consider, double standards.  And I am enraged with those double standard.

I get so angry and I don't know how to deal with that anger.

But...it's none of my business.  They're the ones who'll answer for their actions.  Not me.  I'll have to give an account for my actions.  I'll have to answer for why I let that judgmental, critical attitude grow into anger and even hate.  I'll be judged because I didn't act in love.  

The Bible is very clear on this.  It says, "Judge not or you too will be judged" (Matthew 7:1).  Jesus said that people would know we were His disciples by our love for one another.  If you're judgin' we're not lovin'. 

Kill that critical spirit and learn to act in love.

Third, remember that we've got to let go of the past.

The enemy's greatest trick is the lie of condemnation.  Over and over again we rehash what we did wrong and how we could have changed it, but we fail to realize that the past can't be changed.  We must work hard to forgive ourselves and move on.

In Romans 8:1, Paul writes, "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus because through Christ Jesus (and His redeeming work on the cross) I've been set free from the law of sin and death."

So let's break this down again.  How are we going to avoid the stagnant, unmoving circles that can come our way and keep us from moving towards or our God-given purpose?

Here's a "cheat sheet" to help you out.

click to download

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the Road to Your Dreams

Memories are a powerful thing.  They have the power to enable us to do explotes freeing us from every limitation we've ever felt.  But memories also have to the power to cripple us leaving us broken in the shadows of our past.  The past sneaks around in the secluded crevasses of life haunting our every move.

Maybe it haunts you too.  The idle words spoken to injure.

"Oh honey, that's not your gifts."

"That's the most ridiculous idea I've ever heard."

"Well, that may be a good idea, but it will never work.  Where are you going to get the money from?"

"You are so stupid."

You are  ___________________.  Fill in the blank.  We've all heard it before.

But it's vital that you remember, if the vision...if the dream...you carry in your heart is from God they can say whatever they want to about you and your dream.  God's the master of your vision and He's orchestrating its completion.

There are three principles that we find in Moses's life that can really teach us about staying true to our God-given dreams.  The story of Moses is found in Exodus, but most of these points are outlined from Exodus 5 and 6.  If you a chance read those chapters.  But first, let me point these out for you.

1.  When God gives a dream or a vision or a purposes there will be opposition.

It seemed that there is nothing Moses could do that would make the Israelites happy.  When they were in slavery they complained because they were slaves.  When Moses obeyed God, went to Pharaoh, and demanded their freedom, they complained because of the retaliation from Pharaoh.  When they were freed, miraculously,  they complained when they looked behind them to see that the Egyptian army coming after them.   It's almost as if they forgot every work that God had just done to make a way for their escape.

When God parted the Red Sea and they walked across of dry ground, when God caused the Sea to come crashing back down on the Egyptians...when God performed a miracle of deliverance they complained to Moses.

Moses carried the weight of their murmurs very intensely.  The deliverance of the Hebrews was, after all, the dream that God had called Moses to see completed.  No doubt he became discouraged and mad and even violent at one or two times.  It seemed, regardless of how many times Moses told the Israelites that God had freedom for them, they wanted the
knowledge of their slavery more than that unknown of freedom.  So their discouragement bred discouragement and their bondage led to more bondage.

Despite the Hebrews' decision to remain in their slave mentality, Moses still remembered the dream of the Promise Land, and even if the Hebrews were unsure of the need for freedom Moses continued to lead them to their land of promise.  He remained dependent of God in the face of the opposition.  Which brings us to the second point.

2.  When God gives a dream or a vision or a purpose your dependence on Christ and the Holy Spirit must increase.

When it comes to us contending for the dream that God has given us, we must, must, must stay dependent on God.  Whether the force of opposition is natural or supernatural really doesn't matter.  We must sell out and believe that God has given us this dream and He will see it through to the end.

More often than not we expect instant results, but that's not how things work in God's Kingdom.  God intrusts us with a vision.  We are responsible for our obedience to His vision.  He is responsible for the results.  That's a difficult concept to grasp because of our culture, but it's true.

Moses was responsible to go to Pharaoh, say what he was commanded to say, and trust God to move supernaturally for the deliverance of the His people.  Moses was responsible to be the leader--to give the people a direction--to point them to their God.  God was responsible for the rest.

When faced with the Red Sea, Moses was responsible to hold up his staff.  God was responsible to part the water making that dry path they could cross.

When only the supernatural will do your dependence the Supernatural One must be greater.  In our cultural battle, we forget that we serve an all-knowing, all-loving, all-powerful God.  We are none of those things.  When we're standing at the Red Seas in our life it's unlikely that our money or our knowledge or our name dropping or our science will solve any of our problems.  Only God can and that's His responsibility.  We do what we've been asked to do and we are dependent of God to do the rest.

3.  When God gives a dream or a vision or a purpose He will complete it.

We forget that Moses never actually got to lead the Hebrews into the Promise Land.  He messed that up when he got angry and disobeyed a direct order from God.  However, Moses did get to see the Promise Land.  It was the land of his destiny.



At the end of life, I can imagine the thoughts that possibly could have swept over Moses's hopeful mind that maybe--just maybe--he might get to step into this land of promise.  But Moses also knew of God's person.  He knew His sovereignty.  The timing for entry into the Promise Land really stank for Moses, but even though he never entered the Promise Land, God held Himself accountable to His Word and brought them victoriously, miraculously, into the Land of Promise.

Here's the truth.  When working to complete God's plan in your life you will face opposition, you must remain dependent of God, and He will finish His work.  The Bible says in Philippians 1:6 that God will complete the good plan He started in You.  And we know according to 2 Peter 3:9 that God is not slack concerning His promises especially the ones enabling us to reach our ultimate destiny.  Psalm 37:23 says that He orders the steps of the upright in His Word.  We know that God hears the effectual, fervent prayers of His people because in James 5:6 His Word tells us so.

God is working out His plan in your life.  You will face opposition, but stay dependent of Him and believe in His sovereign timing.

Linking Up With

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