Happy New Year! I know it’s January 11 and we are well into a new beginning of another year. How is yours going so far? I’m not one to set New Year’s Resolutions. Rather, I choose to make lifestyle choices. Our family started a lifestyle choice in 2018 that I will share in another post I’m sure. That’s not today’s topic.
On Monday, the Lord led me to commit to 21 Days of Prayer and praying over my business. You already know about our farm business. However, I have another business in wellness and this is the one I felt led to be praying over during the 21 days. Oh my goodness…has God shown up! To Him be the glory!
Nine and a half years ago our family made the choice to follow a wellness protocol including Young Living Essential Oils. (Learn more) At that time no one had heard of essential oils and they were hard to find. Fortunately God broke into our life and added these precious gifts into our lifestyle which was already embracing holistic wellness that had led us to make lots of wonderful choices in nutrition. The oils allowed us to switch out some products and changed our whole paradigm on supporting our bodies, minds and spirits.
What’s that got to do with this topic? Hang on, I’m getting there. The point is God blessed us with a business that I had not intended to do. That was totally the Lord bringing people into our lives and the lives of our team members. Did we work? Oh, yes! Yet, unless the Lord blesses our efforts we work in vain.
Get to the point, Sandy! Point is, our business was moving and we were heading into a place that would soon allow us financial freedom. Until…we stalled. Why? I truly believe God hit a pause button on it because I was not ready. I’ve heard lots of successful people in this business talk about how at some point personal growth has to take place in order to keep growing your business. I knew it in my head. I thought I had done some of that work. I had. However, God had a plan to mold me, shape me, walk me through some hard challenges in this business, and experience hurts that shook my confidence. I had some pride going for achieving what we had up until this point. God took that and smashed it into a bazillion pieces in only the gentle, loving way He can.
A year ago God showed me a vision of achieving our next level of success and provided some awesome resources in a very “God-could-only-make-this-happen” manner. I might share that another time. I plugged into a Christian leadership team and God brought a beautiful prayer partner into my life. Martha and I have not yet met face-to-face. She lives 750 miles from me. However, with social media and phone conversations, we have loved and supported one another through many joy and trials. If for no other reason, I believe God led me to this team so I could have my beloved prayer partner.
Last summer God showed me a vision of achieving the level above the next one for us. This is huge. This would require a big growth in our business. Yet, I saw it. I felt in my spirit that this has already been accomplished. I saw the dream and it was so real. I could see our, my husband on my arm, lots of love and changed lives all around. Oh, goodness, God is so good! However, I was yet to face some of the greatest challenges I have ever experienced in this business.
On to it now…what does all this have to do with dreamers? Those visions and dreams that the Lord gives you…the deepest desires of your heart…the one you are afraid to even put on paper, vocalize, or even think about because they feel selfish, out of reach, or unattainable…those are from the Lord! Allow yourself to reach out to Him and dream. On the first day in 21 Days of Prayer, we “Give God Control”. I’ve done this countless times, yet, this time, something different went on. The Lord brought me so gently to a place of complete surrender. I didn’t give Him control and then grab it right back like other times. Yay!!
This morning as I was scrolling through Facebook, I came across a post by For King & Country advertising one of their new songs. This is one of my favorite bands so I clicked on my iTunes and listened to the sample. That song had me wanting to plug in ear buds and start running. What in the world?!? This FarmGirl doesn’t run unless an animal is out or the water tank is about to overflow! My eyes read through the list of song titles on the album and I saw, “To the Dreamers”. My spirit stirred. I clicked. I listened. Oh, my word; I had to hear more!
In this day and age of technology we can Google anything and find the whole song or video, lyrics, etc. I found the song and listened. Yes! Yes, God! Yes!!
“When you feel it, once you see it
It’s unforgettable
When you know it, once you know it, and you hold it
It’s unforgettable”
All of the words to this song were speaking of my journey and my heart. It’s like the Lord was singing right into my very soul. Have you ever had a huge God-moment like that? Where God just breaks through and offers you just the encouragement you need? I can’t help but praise Him and shout to the world that our God hears us! He hears your heart. He has answers. He gives dreams and visions.
“When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild.” Proverbs 29?:18 NLT
I was running wild. For a period of time I was not accepting God’s divine guidance. Even though He showed me the dreams and the visions, I was not yet ready to accept His guidance. I spent many months wallowing in the pit and the mire. God reached right down in that pit and never let go of me. He also won’t let go of YOU! He has you. He’s never left. He only wants your heart so He can bless you. Satan wants you to stay wallowing in the muck, ineffective, useless, hopeless, joy-less, feeling worthless.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
When you are in that place and trudging through life, the enemy has won. You are living defeated. Cry out to Jesus. Give Him the junk. Lay it down. Take hold of that abundant life Jesus died for you to have. Abundance is not just financially. Abundance is freedom! Live free. Dust off the dreams that God gave you so long ago. Live out your purpose. Trust Him with your future. His greatest desire is to have you transformed and living free to be a testimony to those around you.
“To the dreamers
Wide-eyed believers
Hanging onto hope by a thread
To the soulful
Heart open hopeful
Keep on charging ahead
‘Cause, when you feel it, once you see it, and you breathe it
It’s unforgettable”
