Watch Where You Are Going

Today I want to thank Jesus for my future and the exciting unknown. Yes, that can be hard to do. The bully of fear can run around on my playground and leave me a little idle. I can tend to be so consumed with the NOW. The bills NOW. The kids NOW. The "to do list" NOW. The parenting issues NOW. The pain NOW. The fun things NOW. The problems NOW.

Then there is the past. How many times do we think backwards instead of forwards? There are times when we do need to think backwards. Times that we may need to go back for forgiveness or making a wrong right. There are the times that we need to focus backwards to learn from our mistakes. There are great memories that take us back and remind us to be thankful...again.

Ridley and I each have a ministry that tends to center around our past. Our pain, our tragedies, and our God that loved us through it all. If we are not careful, we can live our "now" constantly focused on the past. This can be a dangerous balance for our marriage. There are things we want to remember so we can encourage and minister to others. More importantly, we want to live a life that acknowledges what God has done for us. The easy trap to fall into is thinking that God has already done the big stuff in our life.

When I tuck my kids in at night, I tell them to have Sweet Jesus Dreams! This morning as I was having my quiet time, I thought about my Sweet Jesus Dreams. I realized I don't do as much dreaming about what God is up to next or about what is ahead. I should be dreaming about our book we are writing and what it might look like on a bookstore shelf one day. I should be dreaming about the fun things I haven't experienced with my husband yet. I should be dreaming about my kids getting married one day and my grandchildren. I should be dreaming about the memories I can continue to make with my parents. I should be excited to fill the empty pages of my journal with request for all my friends and new friends. I should be excited about finally deciding what I want to be when I grow up.

I could picture the verse the minute I thought of it. It is highlighted in pink and on the left side of my Bible. I have to refer to it often. Isaiah 43:18 and 19...."Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing." Today, the word "SEE" jumped out at me. God is saying, "LOOK. Open your eyes". "Keep dreaming". "I am not done".

Then, just as sweet (and bossy) and He is, the Holy Spirit took me to Job 42. Nestled at the end of that book of the Bible is verse 12 that says, " The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first."

Are you ready for the more? Or do you find yourself being idle in your pain, your failures, or your fears? I have friends who are sick. I have friends who have endured cancer. I have friends whose marriages are hanging by a thread. I have friends who aren't sure how they are going to pay their bills. I have friends whose children are making terrible mistakes. Who wants to dream about the future when the NOW is so hard? I understand the difficulty of thinking you can't handle much more, but the verse in Job tells us to focus on a different "more".

The verse in Job gives you great reason to embrace MORE. Don't be afraid to dream Sweet Jesus Dreams!!!!