As a little girl five years old, I wanted to have a horse. I wished with all my might! The closest I came to that wish was when a neighbor had a pony and I got to sit on it long enough for my mother to snap a picture. But at the age of five, I could hardly do anything toward making my wish come true. Wanting and wishing won’t make it happen.
Not so with my granddaughter, however. Faith had the same dream – to own her very own horse. Here’s the difference between Faith and me – she was intentional! She pursued every avenue it took to have her own horse. She has owned a few horses along the way, and today, she owns a beautiful young gelding named Turbo. He is great in barrel racing, and they share a mutual love one for the other.
As a young adult I wanted to write a novel – not as a claim to fame or even just to be well known, but for the fulfillment of accomplishing a long-time wish. I am not so confident to think I could write a number one bestseller – not even a book that is obscure and collects dust without being led by the Holy Spirit and that was definitely not on His agenda for me.
Oh, I dabbled in writing children’s stories, poetry, my own newspaper column, and wildlife magazine articles in years prior, but that was it. I had learned long ago that wanting and wishing won’t make it happen. When I became a believer at age thirty is when I, like Faith, became seriously intentional in pursuing the prize – to be an author able to tell others about Jesus through blogs, books, and Bible studies. Now I had a reason to write and a purpose for doing so – to proclaim Christ.
I went to a community college and took every writing class available; I joined a writer’s group; I attended writing workshops. I learned the mechanics of writing, but to add substance to my writing, I had to go to the Lord. Even with that I had to be intentional to surrender my will to Him first. I had to listen to what was on His heart for my readers to hear – not what I thought would make a good blog or a good book. I gladly submitted to just being a pen is the Master Author’s hand. And there is no greater joy than to be inspired by the Holy Spirit – sometimes at 2:00am! And that is okay! I have paper and pen on my nightstand.
Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, says it so much more eloquently, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I pressed toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
The same principle holds true when it comes to following Jesus, to trusting in Him, to grow in one’s faith – one has to be intentional, because wanting and wishing won’t make it happen. I have been encouraged to step out in faith and trade wishful thinking for willful direction and I hope you are, too.