Dreaming to Be

I hope you all had the best Thanksgiving and are now in full Christmas cheer as our next big holiday approaches! I just love this time of year! My Christmas dishes are out, decorations are up, and although I’ll be ready for the Christmas clutter to be gone by our next post, I alway love soaking it up for the time its out.

Last month I began talking to you about how I’ve taken the initial steps to becoming a certified life coach in order to pursue my passion to see others reach their potential and provide a life in which I can support my family with the time I dream to have for them. Reaching the decision to move forward in life coach training was a hard one. I knew the dream was there and I could see all the possibilities that it could bring me and my family but believing the time was right and that I was right was keeping me in a position of toil.

For weeks I went back in forth. I would bring it up to my husband then I would back off of it for days due to my own fear. I would get excited about moving forward and then moments later I would be covered in anxiety over it. It was going to take faith and it was going to cause discomfort to make the change to breath life into my dream. To me, the weight of this dream felt so heavy and the questions swarmed around me like a whirlwind. Maybe some of you are facing the same position of toil, knowing there is more for you but being circled constantly by questions like…

Is it the right time?

Do I have the money?

Can I follow through?

Am I hearing God right?

Is this really what I am suppose to do?

Will I fail?

Am I strong enough?

Do I have what it takes?

Will I self-destruct?

I especially toiled with that last question. No one wants to admit that they may self-destruct. But like I have said in posts before I like to believe that I am not alone in some of the struggles I have and self destruction is one of them. I will back out before I have the chance to get hurt by my situation or I will fear failure so much that I inevitably end up self-sabotaging my success out of fear, using excuses, giving up, and not pushing through the discomfort of overcoming strongholds. I seriously have been so bad at this in the past. But (praise God!) it's an area I have worked on tremendously and I like to believe I have overcome. But when faced with a serious decision I caught myself wondering if I was ready? Would I go back to old habits? Was I strong enough to move forward? Is all the healing I have received over the last couple years real or am I just a ticking time bomb?

I was in no way secure in myself nor was I separated from doubt. But what else could I do to change? I felt lost and stuck on which way to go and this struggle was greater than I wanted to admit.

Thankfully in the midst of my overwhelming stint of doubt my church was hosting a Women’s Conference and the theme was DREAM. So I perked up and began believing that God would show me if now is the right time to start walking toward this dream of Life Coaching and if I was ready or not to handle any changes this decision would bring me without self-destructing. But God (as He normally does right?!?) had a different message to send to me through this timely conference. He revealed to me something I wasn't expecting but it was something that will change my life forever.

Through His revelation, unexpectedly, I was shown that in order to find security in chasing what was in my heart and be relieved from what seemed to be so much weight, I needed to change my dream. I began to realize my dream to become a Life Coach was attached to my identity. Without knowing it I believed that achieving the "person I was called to BE” was directly linked with achieving “what I was feeling called to DO.” God’s goal for us has never been to “have this”, “be this type of professional”, “be a mom”, etc. Instead, those things are our purposed assignments and are vehicles for our God to use us for His plans.

But consider this...God’s ultimate goal for us is not what we do but simply that we be like Him. Our identity is found in Him alone. We were created in the image of God. Though we have fallen to sin and short of the glory, by Christ’s blood we are given the grace and mercy to be made new every day. Cleansed by the blood of Christ we are called to be transformed back to the original masterpiece the Lord designed.

This is the goal. This is the ultimate dream. Christlikeness is the aim that we must press toward.

"I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God's heavenly calling in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 3:15

This is where the prize is. The prize of our calling is not in achieving the destiny of our “doing” but the destiny of our “being”. It was here, as this deep truth penetrated my heart, that I separated becoming a Certified Life Coach from becoming who God called me to be. Because, the truth is, I may fail at Life Coaching a time or two, but if I do, it will not and can not shake who I am created to be in Christ. Life coaching is the assignment God has placed in my heart to do but becoming a woman who exudes the character and power of Christ is my ultimate goal. God is more focused on who I am than what I do. He doesn't need me, He delights in me. With this knowledge the stress of wondering if I had what it took to take on Life Coach training left me. It felt as if the weight had leveled and my priorities were finally in order. The only thing I truly needed to focus on was that I keep digging into God’s word and keep surrendering myself to His pottering hand every day. He would equip me for all the desires He had placed in my heart and He would supply the needs it would take to achieve them.

Do you feel the weight of your “destiny”?

If so, what is the aim of your “destiny”? Is it what you long to do or is it who you long to be?
Try separating who you want to be from what you want to do or have? If you never get what you want or never become the professional you long to become can you still BE who you were created to be? The answer should be yes.

It is too often we spend our time dreaming about what we should do or what we want to have but I encourage you to fix the goal of your finish line on Christ-likeness. As you mold into WHO you were created to be you can take on your assignments with a confidence that is made strictly of the Lord. You are His heir and His DNA is streaming within you, but you must tap into it. When we made the commitment to ask Jesus into our lives we invited His spirit to come alive in us but our souls, the very essence of who we are, is still in need of transformation. This is His desire for all of us.

Kind. Loving. Peaceful. Powerful. Serving. Compassionate. Healed. Faithful. Focused. Unchained. Prayerful. Obedient. Patient. Unwavering. Forgiving. Trusting.

And the list could go on! I have a lot of work in these areas but God’s word says that “The Holy Spirit will produce these things in our lives.” (Galatians 5:22) So I don’t have to worry if I have what it takes to become more and more like Christ. I just have to keep showing up in His presence and allow Him to mold me. It is His promise and it is His delight.