Do you believe?

What are the deepest desires of your heart?

Do you believe that they are SAFE in the hands of God?

Take a moment, dig deep, do you REALLY truly believe that your dreams are safe in God's hands? Whether you wish you were married, debt-free, with child, or changing the world one life at a time in a job that you dream about... do you believe that your dreams are safe in the hands of God?

The immediate, logical, Christian response is "of course, God loves me, He put those dreams there in the first place." As I dug deeper into the dark recesses of my heart, I realized that I didn't feel like my dreams were safe in His hands. Too many years of hearing lies like "if you want it too much God will take it away" or "if you want to know if God is leading you, just ask yourself 'do I WANT to do what He is leading me to do?' if the answer is NO than it is probably God!" These are destructive lies straight from the pit of hell. Do I think that sometimes God removes things in our lives that are taking our attention off Him? Yep, there's that pesky little commandment "I am a jealous God, thou shalt have no OTHER GOD'S before me!" (paraphrased loosely by me!) Sometimes there are things that are in our lives which take over some of the space that God desires for Himself.

Do I think that occasionally God asks us to do something that sucks? Something that is Scary? Yep, remember Jesus in the garden? We must not, however take a moment of Scripture and build a doctrine on it. Just because Jesus wasn't excited about a grueling death, doesn't mean that everything we do for God has to be gruelling.

As I begin to see the depth of God's love for me, the truth of the salvation offered and the unconditional covenant of love God has with us, I see the error of my ways.

(On a side note, Pastor Jay's message this week on Marriage and what it is supposed to be is worth looking into here.)

I say that I trust God with the desires of my heart but then I whine to my girl-friends that there are no eligible men in the church. I say that I trust God with my finances, then over-spend and stay up at night searching for solutions and opportunities to get out of debt. My actions in no way reflect what I think I know.

God has a habit in my life, of bringing people and situations across my path to speak the truth, kick me in the butt when necessary, and then show me the stupidity of my actions or thought processes! Then, He not-so-subtly taps me on the shoulder and says.... see that? All ME!

Tonight, as I faced yet another roadblock on my journey, I sat with a good friend beside me who hugged me as I cried. She waited until I was done, and then spent time reviewing with me all the ways that God had prepared me for this very moment. While I was feeling stupid for ignoring the signs along the way, she reminded me of all the seemingly random emails I received from women I love who told me that they were praying about this very issue. She reminded me of the encounter I had with God just 2 days ago where He reminded me that only HE is enough. As we sat, an incredible peace overcame me, and no longer was I focused on the hurt, but rather on the truth of the love God has for me.

I see now that my dreams ARE safe in the hands of God... your dreams are safe in the hands of God. It doesn't always have to feel that way, but you know what... feelings aren't truth! I pray that God brings this back to me time and time again, until what I know replaces how I feel.

What is your dream? Does your life reflect the truth about the safety of that dream in the hands of God?