Ready, Steady, Go
There’s a Messy Middle to Chasing Your Dreams
“On your mark, get set, go!” Oh, how inspiring to find your dream, and take off like a shot out of the starting gate! Wouldn’t it be amazing if all you had to do was stay on the well-marked lanes of the racecourse, and just power through until the end?
I have several analogies for the path my dream-quest has taken, and none of them look like Olympic coverage. I sometimes look like the stubborn guy whose wife is begging him to pull over and ask for directions, but just won’t. Sometimes chasing down what I need to move on to the next step reminds me of the time I was a camp counselor, and at 3am I was stirring the contents of a port-a-john looking for a camper’s lost glasses.
At almost all the benchmark, critical make-or-break obstacles I have come against in trying to fulfill the dreams God gave me, I had one thought: ain’t nobody got time for this.
My pursuits have brought me to many crossroads, stop signs, and detours, and all of them were major impositions. Just about every one of them was God slowing me down to point out an area of my life I needed healing in.
At Created Woman, we have identified a natural progression for women seeking to fulfill God’s design for their lives. If you have a dream brewing in your heart, there are things that need to be established in order for you to experience peace and confidence on your way. First up is HEALING. These are things you largely are powerless over, and the things you need healing from require a touch from God. Recovery from wounds (of all sorts), stinkin’ thinkin’, broken relationships, fears, and anxieties, to name just a few.
Next in line would be knowing your IDENTITY, being sure that you know you have PURPOSE, taking care of your physical and mental HEALTH, and lastly, the outward expression of your healthy mind and body, FASHION, or the creative manifestation of who you are on the inside.
If you’re like me, I need to be making progress and moving forward or I can get very down on myself. I feel there are things I can DO about most issues… except healing.
Healing requires stillness, acceptance of weakness, a posture of hope despite the circumstances, a relentless supplication to a God that you may not always be sure can hear you- all while your dreams are hanging by a thread in what is usually the most dire situation. Did I mention God never seems to be on my timetable?
I have figured out that healing is like pregnancy- that baby is only coming when it’s good and ready.
I have heard the British use another term for starting a race: ready… steady… go. Hang in there baby! You may be ready, but steady yourself for the healing hurdles that God will allow to pop on your racetrack. He wants you reaching your dreams healthy, whole, at peace with the world, and full of the light that draws others to Him.
Reflection
1. Can you identify things that have come up over and over in your life that might be a sign you need healing in that area?
2. How much do you trust God to lead you to healing? Why or why not?
3. Do you think some of your dreams may have ended because some aspect of your life has not had healing? Can you believe that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life for those dreams?
Goals
Think about a few recurring themes in your life that you may need to take to the cross for healing:
And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning it’s shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. (Hebrews 12:1-3)
