"Since Jacob was in love with Rachel, he told her father, 'I’ll work for
you for seven years if you’ll give me Rachel, your younger daughter, as
my wife.'" -Genesis 29:18
Do you have a dream? You might be at a
stage in your life where you want to do something great with your life,
but not sure what. Or, you may now exactly what you want but no idea
how to get there. There may be a few of you that know exactly what you
want, and are taking the steps to get there. You may have already
accomplished some of the dreams and goals God has put in your heart.
Whatever the case may be, you have probably encountered “Leah” faith at some time in your life.
Leah
was the eldest daughter of Laban, in the Bible. Jacob saw Leah’s sister
Rachel and fell in love with her immediately. But he was tricked by
Laban into marrying Leah. The Bible says Leah had “weak eyes” while
Rachel was beautiful. Fourteen total years had to pass before Jacob
could get what he really wanted, Rachel.
Isn’t that sometimes the case with us? Leah represents the things
that we don’t want to do, in order to get to the things that we really
want to do in life. We don’t want to put up with Leah, but sometimes we
have to. But Jacob knew what he wanted. He wanted Rachel. In his
eyes, Rachel was worth 14 years of labor and 7 years of putting up with
what he really didn’t want, in order to get his bride, the one he loved
and really wanted.
Do you have faith enough to make it to your “Rachel” dream? I pray
each of us have the strength not to settle for “Leah” so that God can
birth the beautiful, passion-filled dreams in our lives.
"When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, 'The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.'" -Judges 6:12
Has God given you a dream or vision that is bigger than you? All of the major characters in the Bible had a vision that was bigger than them; such is the case with God-sized assignments, and such was the case with the story of Gideon.
Gideon was far from being a mighty warrior when the angel of the Lord appeared to him, even though the angel said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior". According to Gideon, he was from the weakest in Manasseh, and the least in his family. When the angel of the Lord approaching Gideon, he was threshing wheat!
But still, God spoke to Gideon and said, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?" (v. 14)
God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. As such, He requires of us more than we could possibly accomplish in our own strength, putting us in a position that requires our complete faith and trust in Him. Many times we may fill unqualified, weak, and completely unprepared. But, the good thing is, God always sees our future potential, not the failures of our past. He desires to work through us to accomplish His dreams on the earth.
Is God birthing a dream within you that is bigger than you? Pray for His grace to accomplish that dream, and be open to the steps He might led you to to let that vision or dream come to pass.
