The seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams. Mark 4:20 (MSG)
After I spoke at a neighboring church when they were between pastors, I got an email from their worship leader. He wrote, “We’d like to have you preach for us on a regular basis until we find a pastor. How often can you come back?”
Although I felt honored that they liked my message, I was also a bit confused. The Lord had expanded my writing ministry to include speaking—mostly for women’s groups—but I’d never aspired to preach. Yet the more I prayed about it, the stronger the dream grew in my heart.
Yikes, I thought. This is huge. Are You behind this, Lord, or is my ego talking? In my five decades as a Christian, I often believed Jesus was speaking to me. Many times, it turned out that His voice was the one I’d heard. Other times, when an idea backfired, I realized my human desires had taken over.
I didn’t want to start something that wasn’t Jesus’s plan for me. I also didn’t want to offend my husband, Kevin, a pastor for over forty years. Would he resent me for suddenly preaching at different churches, missing worship at our home church?
When I approached Kev, he gave me his blessing. Maybe he figured if I preached to others, I’d cut back on preaching to him!
Over the last year, Jesus has opened doors for me to preach at several different churches. I like to think it delights Him to surprise His followers with new dreams that are beyond our imaginings. He’s sweet like that.
Faith Step: When you pray today, invite Jesus to surprise you with a new dream.
