I sat on the couch sick again from vertigo, an unending cycle of debilitating illness the doctors could not control. My health had literally been progressively spinning out of control for the last few years. I was sick and sinking into depression over how this disease was changing my life.

It was during this unlikely time that God birthed a dream in me, a dream to start a website. I remember thinking “But I know NOTHING about technical things, Lord, and am barely able to use my own computer.”

To which He replied “You have plenty of time on your hands to learn.”

I’ve learned a few things since that day nine years ago—one lesson in particular I am still growing into: God  wants to do much bigger things in our lives than we imagine, and when we work in tandem with Him, He shows up in big and little ways that always exceeds our expectations.

How about you? Have you ever felt totally inadequate to a dream or calling God has placed on your life? Then you’re in a good place, a place where God can move.

So let’s dive in and look at this process of partnering with God in your dream or calling. To be clear, this blog post is for the person who has already gone through the initial steps of establishing that dream or calling. If you’re not there yet, first work through this post 4 Steps to Starting Something New. Then come back here.

What Was I Thinking?!

But once you’ve started and are into the process, it is an exhilarating, scary place. The enemy will try to fill your head with doubts and at some point you’ll probably wonder “What was I thinking?!” God, however, is more than equal to the the task.

When doubts assail you, here’s an anchor to secure your floundering self to God: “The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple,” Psalm 19:7.

Now don’t be deceived; this one tiny verse is packed with power that can help you overcome hurdles and break through confusion as your pursue your God-given dream. Let’s look at it, two words in particular: making wise.

Making Wise

When I looked up the meaning of the phrase in the Hebrew (Hakam), I was astounded at all that it includes. According to my Keyword Study Bible, Hakam means “to be wise, act wisely, be intelligent, be prudent, become wise, to teach, to be skillful.” Do you already see some ways God is going to equip you for what He has called you to? But it doesn’t end there. I especially love the insight the author shares in the keyword dictionary about Hakam.

Denotes an intelligent attitude toward the experiences of life, including matters of general interest, basic morality, prudence in secular affairs, skills in the arts, moral sensitivity, and spiritual matters. The Hebrew concept of wisdom was very different from other ancient world views. Israelites believed in a personal God who is holy and just, who expected man to live according to His principles. They emphasized the human will rather than just mere intellect. The Hebrew concept of wisdom was therefore very practical, being based on what God had revealed concerning right and wrong.

This is huge for us. God shares His wisdom with us in all areas of life: our work, whether it’s secular or spiritual; our creativity in the arts; our moral compass and minds; and of course, spiritually. God wants us to consult him about every area of our lives, work, family, calling, dreams, relationships, and spiritual matters.

So how can you apply this when you are feeling overwhelmed in the birthing process of your dream or calling?

1. Pray specifically. Set aside time each day to pray and ask God detailed questions about your situation. Whether you’re trying to meet a certain financial goal, you need new customers, or  you want wisdom on how to best serve your small group, God is in the details. And He wants to be your partner in what you are doing. So treat Him like a partner. Ask questions. Discuss perplexing problems. “Prayerstorm,” as Mark Batterson calls it. The excellent book Starting Something New by Beth Booram (see resource below) will help you work through the details of birthing your dream.
2. Listen and write down what you feel like He is saying back to you. I really caught on to this from a free teaching iBloom recently shared. It’s called How to Create a Prayer Strategy for Your Business, but the core principles apply to any area of life. I highly recommend it. It’s changed my life and the way I approach my dreams.
3. Follow through on what the Holy Spirit shows you. Obedience is key when partnering with God. He may give you some ideas on whom to contact, a class to take, someone to pray for, a blog post to write, a resource to study, and so on. As you are obedient, He will continue to bless you and entrust you with more ideas and things to do.

When you realize that God is your source of help and strength and you follow His leading, He’ll take you on an exciting dream journey that will far exceed what you would have ever been able to do yourself

He did that with me. My website has grown into a ministry called Only By Prayer that my sister Mary Kane and I manage together. God continues to bring new things to our journey and He “makes wise the simple” on a daily basis.

How about you? Where are you in the process? Share your thoughts below.

Dream on!

Starting Something New: Spiritual Direction for Your God-Given Dream By Beth A. Booram / InterVarsity PressSpiritual director Beth Booram has written this book to guide you through the spiritual process of defining and acting on the idea stirring within you. Interviews from people who have courageously embraced a God-prompted idea are included with each chapter to add further vision and insight. Carefully designed exercises at the end of each chapter will guide those in the beginning stages as well as provide practical help and support for those who are actively tending a God-given dream.

“When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to Him, and He drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.'” Matthew 8:16-17 (Original verse in Isaiah 53:4.)

For our fourth devotion of Holy Week, we are studying the following stanza of the True Lenten Discipline Poem:

FAST from thoughts of illness; FEAST on the healing power of God.

(Here is the full poem of True Lenten Discipline. Here are the devotions for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.)

What strikes me about this verse in Matthew is that every kind of infirmity is addressed by Jesus: spiritual, emotional, and physical diseases. We see just as many illnesses and problems in our times as were present in the Bible times–maybe even more. Jesus also wants us to be whole in mind, body, and spirit. That should always be our goal and desire too.

Physical Healing

I think many of us don’t have any doubts about our minds and spirits being whole, but when it comes to our bodies, we struggle with that because so many people are not healed of diseases. It’s difficult for us to fully understand why. But, I do feel that God wants us to pray for physical health and to control what we can in our lives so that we are healthy. The Bible tells us that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), and as such we need to care for our temple. This means watching what we eat, making sure we get enough rest, maintaining proper hygiene, exercising so that we are fit, living moral lives, and caring for ourselves if we get sick. Many physical problems can be avoided if we do these things–but not all of them.

I do believe that God wants us to seek healing for diseases like cancer, heart disease, autoimmune diseases, and the like. We are to pray continually for healing, and to use the resources of doctors, a healthy lifestyle, food supplements, and other treatments as God leads; we then leave the results up to Him. Whether we are healed to earth or healed to heaven, God loves us and desires the best for us.

Spiritual and Emotional Healing

We may think that physical healing is the most important type of healing, when in reality our spiritual state trumps everything else. Salvation–confessing our sins, accepting Jesus’ death on the cross in atonement for our sins, and giving Him control of our lives– is only the first step in our walk with God. If we just stop there, we will miss the richness of a life on earth lived in the power of the Holy Spirit to God’s glory. God wants us to grow, to be healed of any spiritual or emotional weaknesses and illnesses. Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that He has come so that we can have an abundant, full life.

Much of our emotional and spiritual state hinges on the things that we allow ourselves to “take in.” Philippians 4:8 tells us that our focus needs to be on the true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy things. By doing this, we renew our minds (Romans 12:2). What we think and reflect on is what we become (Proverbs 23:7). Philippians 4:9 then goes on to tell us that whatever things we have learned or received or heard from Jesus, we are to “put into practice. And the God of peace will be with you,” (emphasis mine).

It’s also a good idea to be in the habit of protecting our spirits by praying through Ephesians 6:10-20. Jesus realized that His followers would have spiritual battles, and the Bible tells us how to protect ourselves by putting on the full armor of God. Several years ago, I read these verses aloud daily as I prayed for my family each morning. To my surprise, after a few months I found that I had memorized the entire section without even trying! So, if there’s a long section of scripture you want to memorize, get in the habit of reading it aloud every day.

Today, on this Maundy Thursday when Jesus celebrated the Last Supper with His apostles, let’s put our focus and our prayers on the Great Physician and his ability to heal the things in our lives and in the lives of our loved ones that need to be healed.

Application: What in your life needs to experience the healing power of God? Are there any changes that you can make that will speed up your healing? What resources has God given you that you can take advantage of?

Prayer: Dear Jesus, We thank You that ALL things are under your feet, are subject to you. We ask for Your healing power to be unleashed for these specific things: _______________ (you fill in the blank). Lead us to the people, resources, and lifestyle changes that will help us. We thank you for your mighty power that is at work in each of us. Amen.

You may find these other resources helpful: Are Your Walls Up?;            Praise the Lord!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

I can hardly believe that the holiday season is already over.  Most people look forward all year long to the feast that they can devour without judgment at Thanksgiving and the festivities of Christmas, but for my family this year, those traditions were moved to the bottom of our priority list.

About two months ago, my mom started getting really sick, and the doctors couldn’t find any source to her illness. They ran test after test, yet nothing made sense as to why she had a low blood count and was losing weight at an alarming rate. Christmas was right around the corner, and we decided to take a break from all the doctors’ appointments and just enjoy the season with our family. We would worry about possible causes for these symptoms after the tree had come down and the media had stopped showing all their Christmas specials.

This seemed like a great idea, but God had other plans. Plans that would rock our world… but then again, God seems to like switching up our plans, especially around Christmas time. The whole point of this season is that God flipped the script and sent His Son born of a virgin to save us. So when everything stopped going according to plan this Christmas, for me it was a lot easier to deal with, because I knew that God was still in control, just as He was 2,000 years ago.

About a week before December 25, my mom started coughing up blood. It wasn’t a lot the first day. But then it continued day after day, until her whole hand would be covered with the blood. Christmas was just days away, but it was time to act. We rushed her to the hospital to find out that she had lung cancer the size of a baseball in her left lung. The doctors had not thought to look for that specific form of cancer because my mother had never smoked or worked in a vocation that might contribute to lung cancer.

After that, things started going pretty fast. We were rushing my mom to many CT scans and biopsies. It was originally believed that she had stage three cancer, which would have given her about eight months to live. However, my God is bigger than doctors’ diagnoses, and after much prayer my mother returned for another doctors appointment to find out that the cancer was not spreading as fast as they had first thought and that they might be able to get all of the cancer with surgery. That surgery is still going to be very rough and we are all anticipating January 18, when my mom will have her entire left lung removed, but we are trusting God and know that He will protect my mom and continue to give us all peace throughout this difficult and scary experience.

On behalf of my mom, I am asking that any one reading this would please pray for her on January 18 as she goes into surgery. It would be so powerful and amazing to know that thousands of people are out there praying for her to have strength and to feel God’s presence throughout this time. My mom’s own personal prayer is that God be glorified in all of this. Thank you.

Pray on!

Brittany

Brittany Jean is a nineteen-year-old college student living in the Midwest with her parents and younger brother. She is currently majoring in pre-law and is planning on using that degree for ministry.