A god Called 'Destiny'?

Isaiah 65
11  But as for you who abandon the LORD and forget about worshiping at my holy mountain, who prepare a feast for the god called ‘Fortune,’ and fill up wine jugs for the god called ‘Destiny’ –     

12  I predestine you to die by the sword, all of you will kneel down at the slaughtering block, because I called to you, and you did not respond, I spoke and you did not listen. You did evil before me; you chose to do what displeases me.”     

13  So this is what the sovereign LORD says: “Look, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry! Look, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty! Look, my servants will rejoice, but you will be humiliated!     

14  Look, my servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts! But you will cry out as sorrow fills your hearts; you will wail because your spirits will be crushed.  

I did a search for the word destiny in the scripture. Most of the time it is used referring to the destiny of the wicked or fools. Isaiah 65:11 really caught my eye. The people of Israel sound like Americans today. They have left the holy mountain, true and righteous worship, and now pursue a god called "Fortune" and a god called "Destiny".   The Hebrew word (meniy) translated destiny in

several versions is actually the word for a god of fate the Jews worshiped in Babylonia!

A god called "Destiny".  

I have been guilty of being in that camp. I have spent far more time pursuing a dream, not even working at accomplishing something, just trying to get the idea of the dream just perfect. 

I am not saying dreaming is wrong,  nor do I believe fortune is wrong. It is a matter of priority and purpose. There is no doubt God has purpose and plans for each one of us, good ones, too. However, neither the dream nor the fortune can be more important than pursuing God, listening for His voice and responding to it.  

A god called "Destiny".  
 

What follows is a stern warning. Death by the sword!  Those who do not listen and respond are condemned to die.  
 

The Lord requires that we listen and obey. His servants will eat, drink and rejoice! "My servants will shout for joy as happiness fills their hearts!"   His servants are defined as those who respond to his voice. They obey His commands.
 

I have seen in my own experience how holding the dream or vision of destiny too closely, esteeming too highly, causes a crushed spirit. It is God alone who can satisfy. 

A shift in focus is needed. The resources I have directed to seeking my destiny must be redirected. The resources must be used to learn to hear and practicing to obey. Fulfilling my destiny will be a by product. He will lead and direct me to learn skills, build relationships, make career moves, whatever is needed to have me in the place He most wants to use me. I will eat, drink, and rejoice along the way.   It takes so much pressure off finding a dream and calling, my 'destiny'.
 

I only need to hear Him calling.
 

I often think I need to see the big picture, what will it all look like, where exactly am I going in my life. (What is my destiny?) I realize now I need a far bigger picture than that. I need an eternal picture. I need a God big enough to trust with the next step one step at a time. A belief big enough to step out whether I can see the step or not, mush less miles down the road.

I will listen and obey today. I abandon the god called 'destiny'.

In our purpose driven world today have you slipped with me into have 'destiny' be a god instead of a tool?

Let the Wind Blow: Revisit and Update

Maybe it the season. Maybe it's about dreaming.
I want to share this post again. The original portion was two years ago, updated a few months later.

A post about a storm in my life... (read the post by clicking the link below)
 Let the Wind Blow: I originally posted this in April. I really need the reminder today as the clean up continues. God is faithful, in him I put my trust. ...

April 2013
The winds of that storm rarely gust anymore. A great measure of healing has come. Most of the big trees survived and are doing well, some we're still loving and praying for recovery. I feel we're in a long winter. It's hard to tell about the flowers and the gardens. I long for spring. I long for big projects and improvements, but sense it will only be a season of cleaning, repairing, mending - being faithful in small things before larger things are revealed.

New winds are stirring. I pray for warm, encouraging south winds. I know there are cold, harsh north winds. This creates the whirlwind to transform me to His image.

While I long to see the end result I will choose to be content knowing I am on the Rock that will not be shaken though all else is shaken.

Disillusionment for Hope

I went to Webster to see what Daniel had to say about disillusionment. I found he had nothing to say. It was not a word in 1828. Well, he didn’t put it in the dictionary at least. One site online said it was first used in 1591, though Meriam-Websters site says not until 1855.  Anyway it now means “disenchanted” which means to free from illusion. 

This search is feeling like my search to find out that dream meant something that happens when you’re sleeping. Not really what I was after. I think what disillusionment means to me is confusion, uncertainty, and doubt - ultimately rooted in fear.

I didn’t like the definition of being freed from illusion because that would mean I had been foolish enough to be following an illusion. I think that’s exactly it though. Without meaning to or knowing it I was following the illusion of what I wanted my dream to look like. I was focused on the illusion of my dream instead of on the unchanging face of God, so when the dream dies I am disillusioned, and rightly so.

The first step to regaining hope is to lose the illusion. I tend to be very idealistic, which if I’m honest would mean I have illusions of what I think things will be like if my dream came true. I guess maybe I’m delusional? I have had illusions like:

• being happy when this or that happens
• I’ll be content when…. 
• Fulfillment is in x, y, or z. 
• if I could just get my act together...

This is hoping in the dream, or the illusion of a dream. Hope can only be found by focusing on the Dream Giver.   

There is hope because He is.

He is faithful. He is good. He is gracious. He is wholly unable to change or break a promise.

He is hope.

Have you been disillusioned?
What did you do?
Where do you find hope?

Processing a Dead Dream

What does processing a dead dream look like? The process needs the right tools and the right environment for healing. Dead dreams must be dealt with so we are no longer defined by them and so we don’t stink. I’m no expert but here’s what I’ve got so far.

1. Grieve.

2. Repent if needed.

3. Refocus on God. Remember God’s promises, they haven’t changed.

4. Seek wisdom.

5. If it was a dream from God ask for a resurrection. If not ask for a new dream.

Grieve. Every dream that dies is a loss, likely more than one. Going through the process of what we lost, or perceive we lost, can teach us a lot about ourselves, our faith, and our relationship with God. Grieving may reveal people we need to forgive – ourselves, others, and even God. It may also reveal places we were off track in which case we must…

Repent. Sometimes we go after God’s dreams our way, or in our time. I’ve often told my children doing the right thing at the wrong time is wrong. It’s true for us, too. We need to repent of going on our own schedule. Maybe it was entirely our dream. Then we need to repent of going our own way. We get back on track by…

Refocusing on God: Our identity, our worth, everything is in Him alone. Deeper understanding and believing of this truth will anchor us through our healing. He is faithful. He keeps his promises. Life will not be perfect, but He is. Praise Him with a truly grateful heart for the blessings you have, even when a dream has died.

Seek wisdom. God’s wisdom can reveal ways He is working even the death of your dream for your good and His glory. Dead dreams still speak to you; or rather Satan speaks for them. They accuse us, remind us of failure. They speak lies against the character of God and His promises. They make circumstances seem more real than the promises of God. Learn from your experiences with dead dreams.  True friends and God can give you wisdom for next time.

Part of processing a dead dream is to see which part of it was God’s. Maybe God’s part of the dream was the mission and the vehicle was or own thinking.

The process of dealing with disappointment, discouragement and disillusionment is to replace them -one of the great mysteries of the Kingdom. We trace disappointment for God’s appointment. We trade discouragement for God’s courage. We trade disillusionment for God’s hope and purpose. I’ll write about how to do that next week.

I'd love to hear how you have dealt with your dead dreams.

Disappointment, Discouragement, Disillusionment

My family and I are taking a class at church using Dream Journey by Andy & Janine Mason. I didn’t know about the class before I chose my One Word. It gives me a great opportunity to work through some of my issues with dreaming. Sometimes I feel like I need a daily course instead of weekly. The topic of what to do with dead dreams brought many insights.

When a dream dies we are affected by disappointment, then discouragement, and maybe even disillusionment. 

Disappointment can mean not meeting expectations or being removed from office. Dreams die for a number of reasons. Things didn’t turn out like expected. People didn’t understand or cooperate. We are hurt. We question who we are and what we are supposed to be doing. “Who am I?” “What am I appointed for?” “Have I been removed from my appointment?” 

Discouragement is the lack of courage. We can’t go after God’s dreams without courage. When a dream dies it may seem like it took all our courage with it. It didn’t work this time, do I really want to try again? It doesn’t seem to be working, do I want to go on?

Disillusionment is filled with confusion. It’s a hope stealer, sometimes even a faith killer. Who am I? What am I doing? Did I misunderstand God’s plan or purpose? What do I do now? Why try again?

I think processing, dealing with; healing from dead dream restores hope, courage and sense of purpose. It may even resurrect a dead dream.

Your dream may not be dead. It may just appear dead to you because you had an expected outcome or an expected route to travel. Part of that disillusionment. God’s plan may be quite different than ours. There may be an element of the dream God gave you that you then took off with and missed where He intended you to go. God’s results don’t always look like ours. God may indeed have given the dream, but without all the details. I think of Bruce Olson, a missionary to the Motilone people of Columbia. He had a love for languages. He thought he was meant to go to lots of schooling to use that love a languages. God gave him a commission to the Motilone people. He couldn’t even understand them. Eventually God used Bruce’s love and knowledge of languages to help the Motilone’s write down their language and translate the scriptures for them to read. It was God’s dream, but did not look the way Bruce expected. There were certainly times he thought he's dream was dead and so was he, for that matter.

We must work through our disappointment, discouragement, and disillusionment. More on processing a dead dream next week.

Schedule and Plan for Rest

Are your holiday plans well under way or running away?

To have rest at any time of the year we have to plan and prioritize. Even more so at Christmas. Make sure to plan in some rest. Also be sure to make a full inventory of all you intend to do. What preparation is involved? How many resources – not only money – time & emotions, too.  List EVERYTHING involved, every step in it’s entirety.

Now the reality check. Can you actually do everything on your list? Do you have enough of every kind of resource to pull it off? Another question, do you want to use all those resources? Do you have any reserves?

In the past I have failed in many steps of this planning. Every year I continue to simplify and learn to be more realistic in my planning, in understanding what it will really take to pull off my plans. As an example for many years it was a tradition to make gingerbread houses with two other families. A great day for everyone involved. For the planning though it was not just the day on the calendar. There had to be the rearranging of school plans. How long does it take to get snow gear for three children? What about lunch? A special trip to the store for candy we do not keep around the house but need for our project. This is a great tradition and worth all the effort, I just sometimes forget to plan all the parts I need to plan. It goes better when I remember.

It may be that when you really look at what goes in to some of your holiday plans you will decide you either do not have or do not want to use your resources that way. You may want some time to rest so you can have a better attitude toward your family in this “holly, jolly” season.

Question: How is your planning going?

Challenge: Do your holiday plans include rest? Do they focus on Jesus? 

An invitation: During December I’m posting Countdown to Christmas. Focus on Jesus. At my Focus on Jesus blog. I hope you’ll stop by for a quick note of encouragement.

Christmas Blessing: You can still enter for the $320 prize money until December 11, 2012. There are many great blogs sharing in the blessing. Read and enter on them all!