1668 The Longest Night

BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Be still, my friend, God has a dream he wants to whisper into your soul. Pause and listen, the Father is inviting you into a future filled with purpose. A destiny designed in the heavenlies.

God says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future.”

You’ve heard that before, haven’t you? Maybe you’ve even got your hopes up before thinking things are finally changing for you, then you’re let down again and disappointed in failing plans. But I assure you, my sister, God’s plans for you have not failed. His plans to prosper you still stand. He is offering you hope for your future here today. Be still and receive it.

15 years ago today, my husband and I were on our very first vacation without our young children. 15 years ago, we sat on a remote beach in Belize, and we each read a book. I was reading The Shack. He was reading The Alchemist. There, in the quiet and undisturbed sunshine, God began to whisper to my soul. Yes, 15 years ago today, he told be about YOU. I had dreams and visions of creating something that would bring God’s girls back to him in fun and unique ways.

I remember thinking, “how in the world am I going to tell my husband I need to quit my job and step into this?” Little did I know, as we sat there on the beach that day, God was whispering into my husband’s soul as well. Whispering dreams of a hope and future beyond anything we could ever create on our own.

That night, we walked under a full moon along the shore to dinner. He said to me, “Babe, I need to tell you what God told me today.” I interrupted him, “No, I need to tell you what God told me today, first.” We fought to be the first to say it, and we both erupted into our own version of, “God has plans for us, and it’s BIG!”

Literally, it was BIG Life. We sat together and dreamed of hosting weekend adventures for people that would change their lives. We dreamed of creating a safe space for others to dream again, then be empowered with faith and courage to take their next steps. We dreamed of sharing with YOU, meeting YOU, working with YOU.

We went home after that vacation, picked up our kids, and got to work. Work I was happy to do. Work that kept us up late at night and had us waking up early each morning. Work that was added on top of jobs we already had. Work that brought in absolutely no money, and required investments we couldn’t find easily.

A few years into the journey, I became very discouraged. I thought when God whispered these plans to you, then the future would come quickly. I thought when God’s plans are to prosper you, things would be easy. I thought when God gives you hope, you would never feel hopeless.

I. Was. Wrong.

We were broke. We were discouraged. We were exhausted. And quite honestly, I felt disappointed in God’s plans.

Maybe that’s where you are today. You thought God whispered a dream into your soul. You thought you had a glimpse of God’s good plans for your life. But this isn’t the way you imagined it working out. You don’t feel the way you thought you would feel. Things don’t look the way you thought they would look. So, what are you going to do about it?

5 years into our pursuit of this dream that God gave me that included YOU, I heard a song called “Geronimo”. I memorized it and I sang it, “Can you feel it? Now it’s coming back we can steal it – if we bridge this gap. I can see you – through the curtains of the waterfall. So say Geronimo! Say Geronimo!” Like curtains of a waterfall, I dared to look through the setbacks and disappointments of a dream that was taking far longer than I imagined, and I could see it … I could see who God created me to be. I could see the future he had for me. I could see this connection with you. And I wanted it! I wanted you.

Then, I heard an interview with the band who sings this song “Geronimo”. I will NEVER forget their words. They were all of a sudden very popular with their hit song that was featured on the Super Bowl that year, living the dream. When asked how it happened, they said, “We are an overnight success, 8 years in the making.”

We just see the overnight success, but we have no idea how long that night was.

When God whispered those dreams into my husband and I, I foolishly assumed the journey would be fast and it would be easy. I envisioned overnight success. But 15 years later, I can tell you, it’s a really long night.

Are you willing to stick with it in your long night? Are you willing to believe God still has a plan, even when it’s taking way too long? Are you willing to cling to the hope God has promised you, even when it’s hard to hope?

Here I sit today, 15 years after the dream was whispered, a whole lot older than I thought I would be when I would finally get to talk to you. The journey to you has been so much harder than I imagined, and I’ve given up in discouragement far more than I want to admit, but here we are … And what I need to tell you is YOU ARE GOD’S GIRL. HE HAS GOOD PLANS FOR YOU. THOSE PLANS ARE TO PROSPER YOU, NOT TO HARM YOU. THOSE PLANS ARE TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND A FUTURE. Now jump in and say GERONIMO! Go for it. You’ll wake up one day, living in those dreams and to others it will look like an overnight success, but you’ll know that was one really long night.

Does an overnight success require 8 years? No. Most will actually tell you 10 years. I’ll tell you it will take you coming to the absolute end of yourself. I’ll tell you it will take everything you have, then more than that. I’ll tell you it will bring you to your knees, and on your knees you will find the only firm foundation to build on.

Hearing that interview on TV sharing the reality of the years required for what appears to be overnight success, became my beacon in the night. This wasn’t taking so long because I wasn’t good enough … this wasn’t so dang hard because I wasn’t the right person … this is what the journey looks like.

Did you know God whispered this promise in Jeremiah 29:11 to his people while they were exile? While they were suffering? While they felt God was surely against them. Some translations use the word “thoughts” instead of “plans”, so it reads like this, “For I know the thoughts I think towards you.” God’s people didn’t know or remember God’s thoughts towards them, so he’s reminding them. He’s reminding them He doesn’t just think about them, but his thoughts come towards them.

My sister, God doesn’t just think about you, but his thoughts come right at you! His good plans are chasing after you, running before you, then making the way.

Have you forgotten that? Have you dismissed yourself thinking God has good plans for others, but not for you? Have you fallen into discouragement because the night has been so long? Have you forgotten how to dream with God? Or have you gotten busy and left God out of this?

Well, God told me 15 years ago today that I would be talking to you, so I’m going to make sure and say exactly what he has asked me to say. The journey to you has been too darn long for me to miss this opportunity.

Girl, God loves you. He thinks about you all the time. His eye has never left you. His plans for you are good, even though the journey there can be hard. This journey is hard, but it’s good for you. It’s growing you into who you will need to be when you get to where God is taking you. Don’t give up on the dreams God has already given you. Be still, and listen for God’s continued whispers guiding you to his good plans for you. They are for you, not against you.

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