When I put Wiggles to sleep each night, I am deeply reminded how much I desire for him to have the courage to follow his dreams. I sing a little song to him and one line says,
“I have just one prayer for you, may your every dream come true.”
Each night, as I sing that song, I am convicted. How can my baby learn faith and courage if his parents don’t model it for him? How will he live out his dreams if I don’t have the courage to live out mine?
In Experiencing God by Henry Blackaby, the step after hearing God’s calling is facing a crisis of belief in which a person much choose whether or not to follow God. That crisis of belief comes from looking at the huge, scary, overwhelming thing God is asking me for and thinking, “There is no way I can do this.” The problem comes when I look at God’s calling with myself in the center. When I put God in the center the question becomes, “Is He really going to do all this through me?”
A God-centered life moves the problem of failure onto God’s shoulders. The crisis of belief is me facing what I really believe (or don’t believe) about God. Is He really big enough to carry out all that He promises? Will He be faithful?
I cannot look in the future to know the final results. I can look back, and He has been faithful in the past. His record indicates that He will be faithful in the future. I have to live in that trust and step forward to say, “Her am I, Lord. Send me.” If I live in a crisis of belief always questioning God, His purpose, and His plans, I will raise a child who lives always questioning God, His purpose, and His plans.
The dreams I have in my heart have been planted there by God, but I approach them with a crisis of belief.
I don’t know what I fear more: Not having the courage to live out my dreams, or Wiggles not having the courage to live out his.
