Deuteronomy 8:1 – “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers.

My husband and I have been planning and dreaming of moving to a bigger home.  We currently live in a nice home, but we want some upgrades—wood flooring, higher ceilings, updated kitchen, bathtub in the master bathroom, etc.  When we sat down to calculate how far we were from financially reaching our goal, our hearts sank.  We need to have an extra $1000 per month to cover the mortgage payment.  While we could cover it with some tweaks, who wants to be slave to a household payment! Of course with a new home, we want new furniture as well.  That means more money needed to be saved up.  Our dream home was getting further and further out of reach.

“How are other people doing it?” we thought.  What are we doing wrong?  We make six figures per year, just like our friends and perhaps even more than most.  Why and how are they moving out on building their dream home?  Why can’t we?!

The dream began to move further away when I lost my job; resulting in a loss of more than half our annual income.  “What is God doing?” was our constant question.  We have been waiting, sacrificing, giving to those in need, trying to obey God, and we are still coming up short.  WHY GOD??  Maybe the dream wasn’t from God; perhaps it was something we wanted that was not in the will of God.  We started thinking that we should downsize our dream.

Of course, I was not willing to downsize so easy, but if that is what my husband thinks is best, I should follow (as I am trying to be the Proverbs 31 woman).  However, I just didn’t want to believe that God put this vision in both of our minds only to tell us to downsize it.  Were we losing our faith?

My husband woke up the next morning and turned the bible to Deuteronomy 8 (was that God?).  When he read it, he felt the message meant we had to continue to wait.  When I read it, I felt the message meant we were getting ready to move into our promised land—the house and some financial stability.  I think we are both right.

We are getting ready to move into our “promised land”, but there are a couple of more tests to pass.  We are not sure what those tests are, but it was confirmed to me that we should not downsize our dream just because it “appears” to be impossible.  The words of Jesus in Mark 9:23 say, “All things are possible to him that believes.”  So, is God telling us to downsize?  No, I believe God is saying, “Wait on and Trust in Me; I will provide and make your dreams come true but you must have faith Michael and Crystal.

As I sit and meditate on that, God reminded me of a devotional I read by Bob Gass a year or two ago.

“In the early stages of pregnancy a baby is easier to lose.  The same applies to your God given vision; you need to protect it.  The enemy tried to destroy Moses and Jesus before they reached their second birthday. Why?  He feared their future-and he fears yours too!  Furthermore, when a prospective mother is not showing, she has to go on the word of her physician.  Getting the idea?  There are certain things you need to do in order to “deliver” what God has promised.  When your doctor says, “No smoking, drinking, or eating certain foods, etc.,” he is thinking about your future.  “But others can do these things,” you say.  Yes, but they are not carrying within them what you are.  The call to give birth to a vision means daring to be different, even radical: it means disconnecting from relationships that can hurt you, staying out of certain places, and reordering your priorities according to your God-given destiny, not popular consent.  If you think fulfilling a vision is easy, check the price tag!  Like childbirth, it’s hard, it’s lonely, it’s sleepless, it’s appetite changing, it’s schedule-altering.  It involves pain and leaves stretch marks.  So before you give lip service to or play around with God’s purpose for your life, ask yourself, “Am I ready to carry this thing full term?”  Visions are not for the immature, the impatient or the faint of heart.  And you can’t downsize them when things get tough.” (Bob Gass)

So, it looks like Michael and I will wait on the Lord.  As Isaiah 40:28-31 says,

 28Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Wait on the Lord, my friends, wait on the Lord.