I was invited to speak to employees at twelve different restaurants in the DFW area in Texas. This was a dream come true as I had desired for years to engage in biblically based motivational speaking. As I arrived at the first restaurant, I walked inside in anticipation of the time they would give me to bring forth a message God had planted in my heart—a message I was excited to share.
As I walked into the main entrance, Mr. Paul, the owner, met me. We spoke briefly about the upcoming talk. Afterwards, Mr. Paul ventured toward the kitchen where he stood for a time watching individuals prepare for the upcoming lunch hour. As I watched him from a distance, standing in a kitchen he had once dreamed of building, the thought instantly came to my mind that Mr. Paul was now standing on the other side of his dream. What had started out as a vision was now a reality. What had started out as one restaurant had now turned into fourteen restaurants. Today, Babes Chicken stands as one of the most popular restaurants in the DFW area. The owner was now enjoying the fruit—not only of his labor—but of a dream planted within his heart many years prior.
On that same day, I, too, was standing on the other side of my dream. Years prior, I had desired to engage in motivational speaking, but doors never seemed to open as I hoped. For a time, I pushed it aside, yet still desired to see it happen. Finally, and in God’s timing, I was now beginning to see the desire come to fruition.
“Trust in the Lord and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, and He will do it. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light And your judgment as the noonday” (Psalm 37:3-6).
God tells us that when we delight ourselves in Him, He will give us the desires of our hearts. God places His desires within our hearts, and then brings those desires to fruition, at the appointed time. During those seasons of waiting, He is working—not only within our hearts—but through us in preparation for the desired dream. He is moving in other people’s hearts, readying them to be a part of the dream. He is shifting, pruning, and setting everything in motion for the very day when those dreams become reality.
Because we may not see anything happening currently does not mean God is not working. He is always working and moving us toward His perfect will for our lives. His perfect will includes the desires He has placed within our hearts.
One of the prayers I often pray is for God to remove any desire from my heart that is not of Him. Why? Because the more I come to know Him and trust Him, the more I come to understand God knows what is best for my life, period. My desire may be for something not of Him, and when He shows me that truth, I can trust that His will for my life is best.
Where do you find yourself at today in your dream? Are you at the beginning stages? Is something currently stirring in your heart? Are you sensing God’s leading in any direction? Do you have a passion to serve in a particular area in your church or in your community? Pay attention to the desires of your heart, and then bring them before God to seek His direction. If He plants the desires, He will bring them to fruition in His appointed time. Just like Mr. Paul and countless others who have gone before us, we too will one day be standing on the other side of the dream, enjoying the fruits of our labors.
“Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart” (Psalm 37:4).
