There are moments of clarity in life when we can almost feel our entire world shift or tilt on its very axis. That is how I feel at this moment in time as I contemplate the dreams God has instilled within my heart. It feels as if He Himself has come down from Heaven and pushed me off a cliff and forced me to grow wings to fly. The freefall is both terrifying and invigorating. For the first time in my life, I am truly able to grasp the mystery and joy of my dreams and the realization that those dreams might one day come to fruition. I am finally experiencing life as He meant for me to. And it is a formidable and fathomless and addictive feeling of freedom.
Imagine what God could do in our world if each of us who heard His voice obeyed Him and followed His leading. Throughout history God has placed dreams in the hearts of man. Some dreamers such as Noah, Moses and Mary, have seen their realized dreams recorded in history so that we may all know the power of God and His calling. But there are others, more obscure, whose names we will never know, who have heard His voice and have followed faithfully. We may never hear about the infertile couple who became parents at long last to a child who had no parents or the son of a poor farmer who became the first in his family not only to graduate college, but also to become a doctor. God-given dreams are not all going to make the front page of the newspaper. Most we will never know. But God will. The one who lived the experience will. And that one faithful dreamer will never forget and will be forever changed.
God has placed within my heart the desire to write. Exactly what does that mean? Does it mean that God is calling me to a life of fame and fortune by means of the printed word? No. It simply means that God has placed a longing so powerful in my heart and mind that I simply cannot ignore it. I refuse to ignore it. When God places such a longing in our hearts, He is only asking for one simple response in return-obedience. The rest we can safely leave up to Him. If we are simply obedient, there is nothing that He cannot do in us or through us. Obedience to God’s calling gives us the faith we need to build those wings on the way down once we step off that cliff to faithfully follow the dream God has instilled within our hearts. The flight is exhilarating and terrifying and life altering.
There are moments when I feel as if I am precariously perched on the ledge of the unknown. During these precious moments of insight, I realize He not only holds my hand, but He also guides my steps. I don’t presume to think that my writing will change the world, but it just might change me. Isn’t that enough?