Seed Thoughts January 2015

//Lynette Hagin

"The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be Like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." -Isaiah 58:11 (NIV)

2015 is here! In January I like to reflect on the previous year and take inventory of what I excelled in and what I would do differently. However, the past cannot be changed. What we accomplished or did not accomplish in 2014 is forever written in the history of our lives. Before us lies another year—another blank book to be written in. How will your history book read this year?

I encourage you to rekindle the dreams that might have been in your heart for many years. I believe that when we make God the center of our lives, His thoughts and plans for us are wrapped up in our dreams and desires. Even when I was a young child, I dreamed of being married, and that I would marry a minister.

That dream was very important to me. I knew that my destiny was wrapped up in that dream. I was so consumed with it that as I looked for a mate, I never allowed myself to get emotionally attached to someone who was not pursuing ministry. I stayed focused on the dream until it became a reality in my life.

What dreams of yours have not been fulfilled? Whatever God-given dreams you have, it is time to kindle or rekindle them. The word kindle means "to stir up; arouse; to cause to glow; ignite." Paul reminded Timothy, "Stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination]" (2 Tim. 1:6 Amplified).

One of the greatest dreamers in the Bible was Joseph. I love to read his story. I've read it many times. I encourage you to read his entire story in Genesis chapters 37–50. Briefly, Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons because he had been born to him in his old age. He made Joseph a coat of many colors. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him.

To make matters worse, Joseph had dreams. And when he told them to his brothers, they hated him even more. He dreamed that they were binding sheaves of grain in the field and their sheaves bowed down to his. Then he dreamed that the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to him.

As you read Joseph's story, you find that many things occurred, both good and bad, before the dreams became reality. In following your dreams, be careful who you share them with. God may drop a dream in your heart, but very seldom does He give you the details of how it will come to pass. Joseph would have been wiser to have kept his dreams to himself.

My dreams have not come to pass as I expected they would nor when I would have preferred. Although I knew I would marry a minister, I had no idea how big God's plan for me was. I did not expect that my husband and I would eventually lead a worldwide ministry. Those thoughts would have frightened me. It was better that God allowed me to simply walk out the journey one step at a time.

As we follow God's dreams for us, sometimes the road is not like we thought it would be. A story is told about a little boy leading his sister up a mountain path. The way was very rough. The little girl said to her big brother, "Why, this isn't a path at all! It's rocky and bumpy." Her brother replied, "Of course! The bumps are what you climb on."

My husband and I and our two children rode four-wheelers. One trail we would take had what we called "whoop-de-dos." It was one bump after another, and as we rode over them we would all say "whoop-de-do!" Sometimes going over the whoop-de-dos would literally shake my insides.

That might be your life right now. As you follow your dreams, you may be experiencing a lot of whoop-de-dos. But as you go over those whoop-de-dos, the most important thing you must do is hold on to the hand of the Lord. Know that at the end of the trail, the path will become smooth.