I remember the morning sitting in my favorite big red chair where I always sat early in the morning while everyone else in the house was still nestled in their beds. The steam from my coffee cup right next to me filled the air as I sat snuggled up in a blanket. Although everything around me was as it should be, I felt discontent, anxious, and confused. What was wrong? Why were things not turning out as they should? I knew the Lord had given me a dream and a vision of what I was supposed to do, but for some reason things were not lining up! There was no fruit from my hard work. Plus, chaos surrounded my family and tension had settled into the house.

It was then that I cried out in desperation, quoting Jeremiah 33:3 and saying, “Okay, Lord, show me! Tell me what I’ve missed! Show me these wonderful and marvelous things you’ve promised!”  

Yes, if you can imagine, I actually yelled out loud, forgetting about my sleeping beauties in the house. But it was that very morning that God began to show me and continued to show me over the next few weeks, how I had run ahead of him.

Wow, I had been given such a beautiful dream from the Lord, only to think I knew how to plan and execute the details better than He did. It’s a little, yet not so little, thing I call “The Sarah Syndrome.” In Genesis God told Sarah and Abraham that their dream of having a child would come true. But when it didn’t happen according to their timeline, Sarah told Abraham to sleep with her maid-servant to produce a child—the promise, the dream. Instead of waiting on God’s perfect timing, she ran ahead of God, and if you’ve read the rest of the story, you know the chaos that ensued, not just in their own lives but for generations to come, all because she didn’t allow God to handle the details.

It’s amazing how we know God has given us a dream or a vision for our lives but then think He’s not able to handle the how. I learned the hard way that by running ahead of God and not enjoying each season, I not only disrupted and actually delayed what God wanted to do but in the process hurt a lot of people too. It took months, even years in fact, to repair the damage I had created. There was financial loss, relational damage, and doubt in myself that needed to be repaired and restored. It was a long journey as God refined me and began damage control!

To restore all the havoc I had wreaked without even knowing it. I had to clean up the mess by acknowledging what I had done, ask for forgiveness from my family, and then surrender every plan and idea I had had or had begun working on. I had to start at the beginning once again.

Now more than ever, Matthew 11:30 holds new meaning to me and has become a guiding principle in everything I do. When anything in my life seems to be hitting a wall, I stop and pray, “Am I running ahead? Have I taken control again? Am I enjoying the season you’ve put me in?” It’s a lesson I have to keep reminding myself daily of so that I always come back to a place of surrender, asking God, “ What do you want me to do today?”

When God gives you a dream, just remember He can handle the details too. So don’t run ahead of Him, wreaking havoc on everything and everyone around you by being swept up in the Sarah Syndrome tornado. Instead, enjoy the season you are in and thank God that He who promises and began a good work in you is faithful and brings everything to completion in His good and perfect timing.

XOXO, Heather

For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

(Matthew 11:30 NIV)

The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.
(Psalm 37:23 NLT)

For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord's people.
(1 Corinthians 14:33 NIV)

Stacy McVane

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