Welcome to our celebration of Girls Ministries Day which kicks off an adventurous week of reflection and expectations for our girls. Jeremiah 29:11 sets the background for God s plan for our lives. 1
We were drawn to 2 Corinthians 3:12 which says, Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. Our desire for the girls is that they will understand that while God has a plan for their lives, they must also take ownership of that plan, that dream, and keep it alive. 2
Dream houses are not built overnight; it takes an endless list of skilled people who pull together to turn the architect s paper rendition of the dream into the real thing! God is our architect and because of Him, we have high hopes and dreams and can be bold in our approach not only to God, but in seeing those dreams unfold. 3
Psalm 37:4 says take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. It is so important for us to trust in that promise instead of trying to take matters into our own hands like Jacob in the Old Testament did. The promise given to him was that he would birth a great nation. 4
However, instead of allowing God to work out the details of that dream, he came up with his own scheme. He cheated his older brother out of the birthright and blessing that always went to the oldest child in their culture. Jacob tried to take control of his own hopes and dreams and paid a big price for it. In fact, he had to run for his life because his twin brother Esau was so upset with him. While God blessed Jacob along the way, he lost sight of the dream until years later. 5
At last, He listened to the voice of God and returned to his Dreamland in Bethel where God had given him the dream of a stairway to Heaven and promised Him blessings. Jacob realized that he had allowed things of the world to take the place of God and asked for forgiveness. When Jacob allowed God to take control of His dream, it was fulfilled. 6
Now let s take a quick look at the story of one of Jacob s sons, Joseph. His dreams went through what I call three phases: scars, bars, and stars. While God had big plans for Joseph, his brothers were not so fond of him. You see, Joseph was somewhat verbal about some dreams that God had given to him. He was already their daddy s favorite and he had that multi-colored coat to prove it. They were tired of that silly old dreamer. The straw that broke the camel s back for them was the dream where he said the sun, moon, and 11 stars all bowed down to him! Even Joseph s father scolded him for that one and said it was crazy to think that his father, mother, and brothers would bow down to him one day. 7
Those brothers decided to kill Joseph, but threw him into a pit instead. He was no doubt covered with wounds that left SCARS on his body. However, the biggest scars came when they pulled their 17-year-old brother out of that pit and sold him as a slave for 20 pieces of silver! You can be sure that left a big scar on his heart. Joseph s dreams didn t seem so dreamy anymore! 8
Joseph was sold to Potiphar who was a big man for Pharoah, the king of Egypt! In fact, he was head of the Palace guard. God seemed to bless everything that Joseph touched. He seemed to be headed directly into his starry dreamland. Not so fast though. There would be another pit stop this time he was thrown behind prison bars! Once again Joseph was innocent yet treated like a criminal. Still God blessed everything Joseph touched and even in prison he was given great responsibility and was well respected. 9
At last the day came when Joseph was released from prison and because of his interpretation of Pharoah s dream, he became a star almost overnight! Joseph was placed in a powerful position and given power to make sure that the dream s interpretation was carried out. God s dream for Joseph s life had been in motion from the beginning. Some of it was not so pleasant, but every phase of it was part of God s plan. 10
Fast forward now to modern day. I want to introduce you to a beautiful Christian couple named Jon and April. In fact, you might know April if you were at the first Power Chicks event in 2007. She was part of the first all-girl band. Once Jon and April decided to start a family, she got pregnant almost immediately, but lost the baby. Their dream of having their own child began fading away after months of not being able to conceive again. Test after test gave no answer. After much prayer, they pursued adoption. 11
It was not an easy decision, but they trusted God to fulfill their dream of parenthood. Within a month, a birth mother had selected them! Within another two months they were at the hospital for the birth and stayed there for two days bonding with the baby. Their dream was in full bloom. They took their baby girl home. 12
However, 24 hours later, that dream came crashing in when the birth mother changed her mind. I saw my husband cry for the first time, April recalls. I hugged that Mom and told her that I loved her and wasn t angry with her. They still have a relationship with that mother and her children and believe that she will find Christ because they were able to show her His unconditional love. April will tell you, however, that she cried often. On the baby s one month birthday, she cried non-stop. In fact, she asked God to take away her desire for a child if that was not His dream for them. 13
Within hours, they got that second call; another birth mom had chosen them. They proceeded with cautious optimism only to learn there was a small birth defect, a cleft lip. Would they proceed? Meeting him put all questions to rest. There was a peace they hadn t felt before, even though they had to wait ten more days for the mother to sign the papers. Braxton has had the corrective surgery now and Jon and April are living their dream! 14
What can we learn from these three stories to help us as we pursue our dreams? Give control of those dreams to God. Don t lose sight of your dreams like Jacob did. Be aware that there will be people who will be jealous of the dreams that God has planned for your life. They will do their best, like Joseph s brothers, to kill your dreams. Learn, like Jon and April did, that God s dream is always the best. It may not take place the way you envisioned it, but if it is truly a Godgiven dream, He will work out all the details. And it will be on His timetable, not yours. 15
God does want to give you the desires of your heart, so go ahead, Dream Boldly and pursue those God-given dreams. 16