About a month ago the Lord was really working on my heart about what can happen if we will only just start. That's the exact phrase He put in my spirit: Just start.
Ironically enough, it's taken me a month to sit down and "just start" writing this blog.
See I don't know about you, but my personality tends to be the type that sees the bigger picture, gets overwhelmed, and just closes my eyes and turns the other way. And while that may not make sense to you, especially if you're a go-getter, to me, sometimes to see the final picture, can be a tad overwhelming because all of the questions flood my mind: how and when, and who and what and what's the timing and on-and-on.
But a month ago when the the Lord was working on my spirit, He was really trying to encourage me on what can happen if we will only be faithful to just start.
So back in 2010 before I was married or even dating Jason, the Lord gave me a vision of a white farm house. And as soon as I saw it, I knew it was my future home. But I also told my parents that I was not buying a house or building one, until I got married. I just really felt in my spirit that I hadn't been given the green light to "just start," but I knew that I had been given the dream.
Fast forward to October of 2015, several months after Jason and I had been dating, I was off at school in Kentucky and the Lord gave me another vision. This time the Lord showed me a long white housing complex that looked similar to a horse barn, but it wasn't for horses, it was for missionaries. And I instantly knew in my spirit that we would have a safe, peaceful place for missionaries to rest. During the time when the Lord gave me that vision, the Lord told me that we would have "cows, chickens, and horses."
I was so excited. I remember calling Jason and telling him all about it, and while I couldn't see his face, I knew he was supportive.
In April of 2016 Jason and I got engaged. Before we were engaged, Jason had a set of house plans drawn up. I just knew in my spirit that it wasn't our home but I didn't feel like I could say anything until the ring. And so, not long after we got engaged, I went to Jason and said "I really don't feel that's our home, would you be okay if I made some changes, as long as we stay in the same price range?"
Again he was supportive.
In 2016 we sat down and started planning our home. And I couldn't get out of my mind the idea of having a safe, peaceful place, for missionaries to stay. And so we just started. We drew up our home in a way that would have a reserved space to accommodate guests.
And while in my mind I knew it wouldn't look exactly like what the Lord had showed me, I did it in faith that we would start small and hopefully one day, grow into the dream.
Luke 16:10 New International Version
"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much.
In 2017 we started building our home. When we first started, our initial plan did not include finishing that part of the house. But as the process went on, we were encouraged that if we would only just start and finish the space, it would be financially taken care of.
And so we started and finished the space.
In 2018 we moved into our home and in 2019 we had our first missionaries.
Over the last year and a half, we've had missionaries in and out of that space for 6 or more months.
And all we had to do was just start. We said yes to the plan. We drew it up. We put things in place. And as we were faithful to do that, the Lord sent the furniture for the space, and then He sent the people.
One of the coolest and most encouraging parts about this story to me is that back in 2015, when the Lord gave me the vision, these missionaries weren't even on the field yet. And still God saw their need, and was already taking care to make sure that someone was preparing a place for them and that it would be ready for them when they needed it.
Isn't that just how God works? It's such a testament to His goodness. He's always in the future, making sure things are prepared, while being in the present, encouraging us to start the necessary things.
It would have been easy for me to look at our finances and say "one day," to the idea that we would have that big, beautiful, space, designed for multiple families, like I had seen in the dream.
But I just felt in my spirit that we just had to start with what we had.
Over the years, one of the hardest things for me about visions and prophesying is that in our human form, we really only see in part and prophecy in part (1 Corinthians 13:9). But that doesn't mean we don't start, when the Lord gives us a green light to move.
So I just want to encourage you today, if the Lord has given you the green light on a project, or a dream or a task, just start. I know it can be overwhelming, but it's so rewarding to look back at the initial ask or nudge from God and see fruit can come from the faithfulness to just start.
Comments