Starting
a new adventure, a new journey, or a new path in life is always a little scary.
We have a dream, a hope, and a desire to build something, to start a business,
to start a ministry, to fulfill a need. We see it before us, but do not know if
this is our dream or is this God’s dream for us. We don’t know what to do,
where to begin or where to go. I have found myself in this state of mind for the
past few weeks. A few days ago I wrote a blog titled “My Success”. (link is at
end of this page) In this blog I talked about my business that I own and
operate with my daughter in law. We own a Pet
It all
started with a prayer, a prayer said by me at the beginning of the year. To be
completely honest the beginning of the year was a hard for us. Our future in
this business looked bleak. We didn’t have many bookings for the upcoming months,
we were not getting any new client calls, and both of us were wondering if we
should just call it quits and give up all together. So I prayed. I prayed and
asked the Lord what He wanted us to do. He knew our hearts, He knew our dreams
and desires, but what He wanted from us and for us was more important than what
we wanted. We knew and believed that no matter what His will was the best will
of all.
For the
first few weeks, this was my daily prayer. And, for the first few weeks there
was no answer, and nothing much changed. We got a new booking here and there, a
new client or two, but still not a whole lot of anything going on. Then it
happened. All of a sudden, out of nowhere calls and needs came like a flood
through our gates. We went from no bookings to overbooked and over capacity in
a matter of two weeks, and we haven’t stopped since. We were flabbergasted,
full of praise and awed at the grace of His provision. At that moment we had
our answer, and through various people, scriptures and “signs” (for lack of a
better word) we knew that we needed to expand, and that it was not what we
wanted to do, but what God was telling us to do.
As we
stand on the starting line of our new journey, my heart is overwhelmed with
fear, questions, doubts, but with a strong desire to do this for Him and only
Him. I have been praying daily, and many times throughout the day, for the Lord
to give me wisdom and direction as we begin to venture out in faith towards
this dream of ours. This morning, I opened my ears and heard His wisdom come to
us through the words of Nehemiah, the faithful servant who also took a step of
faith into a new journey to build something from nothing.
The
book of Nehemiah is often the go to book when one is beginning a new journey or
a new project. In the beginning of the book we see Nehemiah going about his
daily duties as the cup bearer to the king Artaxerxes. While he is doing his
daily duties, along come some men from Judah (Nehemiah 1:1-3). Nehemiah asks
about his homeland, Jerusalem, and what has become of it. I like to read in
between the lines and imagine Nehemiah thinking about his homeland and the
dream of one day returning. Perhaps he has been praying and asking the Lord to
bring this dream to pass. The bible does not tell us this, but I like to think
that Nehemiah had a dream and a desire just like we do.
“And
they said to me, ‘The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile
is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its
gates are destroyed by fire.’” Nehemiah 1:3
Nehemiah
is told that his beloved city, Jerusalem is in great need. The people there are
in need of hope and encouragement. The walls are broken down. Everything
Nehemiah remembered about his homeland is gone and nothing is left but rubble. Before we step into any dream or
desire of our heart we need to ask ourselves if there is a need for it. The
business that we are in is a service based industry, so before we do anything or
take any step towards our dream we need to determine if there is a need. Perhaps
you want to start a ministry, or start a business like we are, or perhaps you
want to provide a service to the community. Whatever your dream is, you need to
determine if there is a need for it. Nehemiah was told by these men who were
living in the region of Judah that there was a need for someone to bring hope
and healing to the people still there. The people had a need for someone to
step up and do something about it.
“As
soon as I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I
continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah 1:4
Nehemiah’s
heart broke for his people and for his homeland. His heart was broken because
he saw their needs and was passionate about getting them the help they needed. My
pastor always says to us that if your heart breaks for someone or something, then
most likely that is the area the Lord wants to use you. For us, our hearts
break for all the creation of God who need love and a safe place to sleep at night.
Our heart wants to help those who are of the four legged kind, but also to be
there for their moms and dads on a daily basis too. Our business is not just a
business, it is a ministry too.
Nehemiah
sat down, he wept and he mourned for days over what he had just heard. Before
we jump into any new project or ministry, or before we decide to start our own
business, we need to sit down and ask ourselves if we are passionate about it.
Is this an area that we can dedicate our time and attention to? Starting a
business, or a ministry or any venture will consume your time and energy. If
you are not passionate about it enough to give up and let go of whatever needs
to go in your life, then don’t take one more step. There are areas of your life
that you are going to have to sacrifice, you are going to have to spend time
and be almost work-aholic like until the fruition of your labors have come to
blossom. Unless you are willing to do what it takes, don’t do it. You must be
passionate about it or don’t be anything about it at all.
Nehemiah
also fasted and prayed. He set his heart, his desire and his dream before the
Lord God and he asked Him for His help, wisdom and guidance. He fasted. He denied
his flesh. He sacrificed self. He came before the Lord naked and bare, not
asking for or hoping for anything, just humbled in his brokenness for his
people, for the needs that he saw. Nehemiah knew that if God wanted the city to
be restored He would make it happen. If God wants you to start this new venture
then He will make it happen.
Nehemiah’s
prayer is not a prayer begging God to choose him to do the work, or to make his
dream a reality. Nehemiah saw a need and He trusted God to initiate and
accomplish His purposes through whomever He chose. It may be our dream, but is
it God’s dream for us? Just because we want it, or we see the need doesn’t mean
God wants us to jump in head first- He might have other plans for us.
“O
Lord, let Your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servants who delight to
fear Your name, and give success to Your servant today, and grant him mercy in
the sight of this man.” Nehemiah 1:11
 |
Nehemiah
knew that any success he was going to have would come from the Lord. At this moment,
as Nehemiah is praying, I think he knew and had a desire in his heart to go to
Jerusalem and fill the need. I think at this moment Nehemiah’s dream became a
reality. It was at this moment that Nehemiah understood the calling God was
placing on his life, for such a time as this. Until you have that moment of
confirmation I want you to continue to pray, continue to fast, and seek the
Lord for His wisdom. Trust me when I say diving in head first will only ever
get you hurt. You must be patient and trust that if God wants you to take this
path He will give you the confirmation you seek. It may come in the oddest
ways, but it will come and you will know -that you know -that you know- when it
comes.
For me
today I learned many things about starting a new journey from Nehemiah. I hope
that as I continue to read and dig up the treasure of wisdom God has for me,
you will be blessed by them as well. It is my hope that over the next few weeks
of blogs I will take you with me on this journey and on this path, as we
venture out into the unknown, and trust that this dream of ours will become a
reality in and through the hands of our God. I hope that as I learn and as the
Lord leads me through His Word that I can encourage you and strengthen you to
follow your dreams, your new endeavors and perhaps make a new start on His
solid ground. Our dream is becoming more and more real every day, may the Lord
God give us all wisdom to follow Him to the other end. In Jesus Name amen and
amen.
Starting a new journey? Ask these questions first:
Is there a need?
Are we passionate?
Have we prayed, fasted, and sought the Lord for His wisdom?
Have we cleared away all our fleshly desires and became naked and open before Him?
Is this our dream or is this His dream for us?
Is there a need?
Are we passionate?
Have we prayed, fasted, and sought the Lord for His wisdom?
Have we cleared away all our fleshly desires and became naked and open before Him?
Is this our dream or is this His dream for us?
No comments:
Post a Comment