one of the things that amazes me about my relationship with God is how available He is if i just stop and listen, and wait for His guidance. i started paying more and more attention to God's presence a few years ago when i was about to let my dream of Gorbella's go.
the business model was complete, i'd worked hours and hours on the plans. the conceptual design was on my mind day and night. i put my dream on paper, worked numbers and figures until it was just so. everything looked great - the only thing missing, i thought, was the start-up funding. after running the numbers again and again, and running into roadblocks again and again, i was ready to throw in the towel.
and that's when i realized the start-up funding wasn't the only thing missing in my plans. i was missing the support of my husband, and the guidance of my Heavenly Father. i hadn't consulted either of them, and when i did, i didn't have their blessing. i couldn't go anywhere without my husband and God on board. without my husband and God, my dream was not worth dreaming. it was literally impossible.
a few restless nights after shelving my dream, i was alone and quiet when i heard from God. it came across like a thought out of the clear blue, like an idea that i knew wasn't my own. it was spontaneous, completely random. but i went with it. i thought it through. i listened for more. i saw my dream coming true, no roadblocks, and with God as my number one supporter. this is the way is what i heard again and again in my mind and spirit.
i woke up fresh with this new plan that wasn't mine. i obeyed. i prayed. i went to God and my husband first in every step of the process of making this dream come true. it's happening. it isn't how i initially envisioned, but it's happening. this dream is mine, yes, but different this time because God put it in my heart. i heard it from Him, and He gets all the credit.
Gorbella's is better than anything i could have done on my own with my original plans and business model. when God is the dream designer, everything is possible. with every open door, every opportunity, every successful fundraiser, i give thanks to God.
that experience took my relationship with Christ to a whole new level. He made it very clear that He has plans for me, to give me a future and a hope (Jer 29:11). i've learned that if we stop and listen, we can hear from God. and it is good.
"Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.
And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."
Jeremiah 29:12-13
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths"
Proverbs 3:5-6
“He who is of God hears God's words”
John 8:47
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me."
John 10:27
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