View Blog Entry

I have had some ups and downs in my service for the Lord.

I once served as a ministry leader and had great hopes and dreams. Not long after I started, I was abruptly taken out of my leadership role. Some years later, I was asked to serve on the board of directors for this ministry. I had to ask myself if I or God owned my dreams. To this day, I serve on this board and get great pleasure in seeing some of the plans I had accomplished through another leader.

David was excited about building the Temple for the Lord, yet he could not build it. The test for David was whether his dream was God’s or his. David seemed to have the same anticipation for seeing his son, Solomon, build the Temple.

Who gets to accomplish the work isn’t important. The point is whether God’s plans are being fulfilled. President Reagan had a plaque on his office wall that read, “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.” The same applies in Christian service.

Many do not see their dreams fulfilled because they are unwilling to give them up, not because they are not faithful enough. When we give them up, we allow others with a little different skillset to come in and take responsibility—people, who because of their calling and gifting, can take the work to a higher level. Paul reminds us that it’s not important who plants or waters. What’s important is that God brings the increase.

A strange dichotomy exists in the Kingdom of God. If we give something up, we keep it. When we lose it, we find it. If God has the ultimate ownership of our plans and dreams, He has the right and responsibility to decide who and how they are accomplished. It is not about us but Him.

Are your dreams God’s? If so, then they are bigger than you, and He is the only one who can fulfill them.

(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)

(For more devotions, visit Christian Devotions.)