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Topic: See (07/22/10)
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TITLE: Are You in Focus? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Lizzy Ainsworth
07/26/10 -
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Some of our dreams are achievable by hard work and perseverance while other dreams may only come into existence by miraculous intervention. Then there are other dreams that God has shown us for our future that seem so impossible that we discard them either altogether or for years until we decide it is the right time to try to force them into existence.
“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:10)
God has a dream for us, otherwise known as our destiny; however we can often sidetrack from this by leaning on our own understanding. Our destiny is the ultimate plan God had for our life even before we were born and we need to be constantly seeking this plan.
When I was eight years old, I was asked to write a hundred word essay about what I wanted to do when I grew up. The response that came pouring out of my pencil was not the response that I had planned.
I wrote that I would like to have one hundred children, using our old local hospital as an orphanage for them. Since that time, this dream has remained in my heart and as a child I would tell people this when they asked what I wished to do when I grew up.
As a teenager, I grew fed up with the odd looks and incredulous stares people would give me and changed my answer to finding a secretarial position in an office somewhere or pursuing a career in freelance journalism. I decided to ignore the dream until I was older; however God kept bringing the dream to my attention through visions and prophetic words.
After finishing school in 2008, I continued to study TAFE courses in Business Administration and Freelance Journalism while working part-time in a computer repair business. Once I had finished studying, I tried unsuccessfully to find a job in five different offices and was becoming very frustrated. Though I kept praying for a job and asking God to only give me the right one; he seemed to have stopped listening.
One day a job dropped into my e-mail inbox. I was offered a position as a governess to two families with nine children between them, and two more on the way. I would be living with the families in Moree, an hour and a half away, four days out of every fortnight, homeschooling their children and helping with other jobs around the home. I was not keen on the idea and held out hope that my secretarial job applications would be successful. They were not and with some trepidation I agreed to take the position for four months and submitted my plans to God.
Over the past four months God has prepared me to fulfil the dream of owning an orphanage with one hundred children. He has taught me to love kids and enjoy having them around; to realise that they are real little people who need time, attention and a listening ear even though sometimes you do not understand half of what they are trying to say.
He has taught me to acknowledge my orphanage dream and now, when people ask me about the future, I mention having one hundred children and watch in great amusement as they shake their heads and look at me strangely.
God has truly been teaching me to:
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.” (Prov 3:5-6)
When we acknowledge God as the director of our lives, he will direct us in the paths we should take even if we have chosen to ignore or discard a God-given dream as ridiculous. Little steps of faith towards destiny are sometimes more important than great leaps.
Is there a dream from God in your heart that you have discarded or ignored?
Submit it to him and acknowledge him; focus your eyes on him and seek his will. He will cause what you thought was an impossible dream, to come into focus at the right time.
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Be sure to double space between paragraphs for easier reading :)
A very interesting story and well written!
When you quote Bible verse , it might be easier to recognize them if you put them in italics, and always remember to cite which version of the Bible you used.
Great job, keep writing and don't ever stop dreaming either.