THE INTENTIONAL PROCESS: DON’T GET AHEAD OF YOURSELF

by Jared Humphers

I believe God has great things planned for you.

I believe you will become a great doctor,
lawyer,
writer,
athlete,
musician,
_____________.

If it’s God’s will, you’ll be a great husband or wife, and maybe a great dad or mom.

You might go on to be a successful entrepreneur, building your own business from the ground up.

Or maybe you’ll be a great encourager and use that to help counsel other people.

But right now, you might be discouraged, because you’re not there yet.

If this is something you’ve thought about or currently think, I encourage you to read on.

I’d be dishonest if I said I’ve never had these thoughts. Actually, these thoughts have come and gone in my mind for the past few years.

I’ve had dreams and hopes of what I’d like to do and where I’d like to be… then look at the time and realize I had to get back to a school assignment!

Sometimes, it can feel like God is holding us back from what we think (or even know) we’re supposed to be doing.

But when that happens, I try to remind myself of driver’s ed …

One of the most important things taught in driver’s ed (and by my parents) is to not outrun your headlights. Especially when it’s raining or very dark, it’s important to go slower and focus just a little ahead of where you’re at now.

Basically, don’t go so fast that your headlights can’t keep up.

Especially if you’re a creative person whose mind naturally wanders, it’s very easy to get caught in dreaming of the future that we miss what we’re supposed to be doing in
the present.

But it’s dangerous to get ahead of where God needs you right now.

Look at Abraham and Sarah.

In Genesis 17, Abraham and his wife, Sarah were promised that they would have a son. This lined up with another promise that God would make Abraham a father of many nations.

But there was an issue: they were both aging. When they weren’t given a time frame for this promise, doubt began to set in – surely she couldn’t have a child at her age.

Unfortunately, we – like Sarah – sometimes try to take things into our own hands when things aren’t going quite like we want or in the timing that we think is best.

However, the end of the story is still true today- God’s promise and plan was done.

Just like it will be with you.

By all means, keep dreaming and never lose those dreams! However, instead of only thinking about them, let’s change our mindset about them and use them as motivation.

Who we are in the future is largely determined by what we do now.

If we don’t make lots of drawings, how can we expect to be a better artist? Or if we don’t read, or speak to others, or post videos and critique them, how can we expect to become a better speaker?

If you want to be a great CEO, start by doing your current job or your schoolwork well.

If you want to be a great husband or wife, start working on having the traits you look for.

If you want to be a great musician, practice your instrument and play with others.

If you want to do big things in the future, do the smaller things today.

One step at a time.

“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” // Philippians 1:6