How God Helps you Accomplish your Dream through Community
What’s the Reason for your God-Given Talents
Have you ever had an idea you thought was perfect only to talk yourself out of it? Maybe you even thought God had blessed you with the specific talents needed to make that dream come true but then fear and doubt crept in, so you abandoned it altogether.
I’ve been there, oh boy have I been there!
But if you are willing to invite Jesus into your dreams, you’ll discover that what seemed big, scary, and maybe even impossible is quite possibly where Jesus has been leading you all along.
How Community Plays a Role in Building your Dream
As if discovering Jesus leading your way isn’t encouraging enough, I also believe that he places people in our lives to help us accomplish our dreams. I think the following Bible passage speaks to this.
1 Peter 4:10-11 (NIV) Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
God didn’t make us all the same. He gave us a unique set of gifts and experiences that equip us for a purpose. If God wanted to, He could have made us all good at the same things. But I believe He didn’t so that we would need each other.
What God-Given Talents do you Need to Accomplish your Dream?
Have you ever found something super easy that others struggle with? Or, on the flip side of that, have you ever struggled with something that someone could do effortlessly? I know I have!
- Take a minute and think about what God-given talents you need to make your dream a reality.
- What gifts and talents do you have?
- And equally as important, what talent don’t you have? This is where the puzzle pieces start to come together. Who do you know that has that skill set?
How Community Helped Me with the Talents, I Lacked
When I started the process of working on my dream, I began by going it alone with just Google by my side. It quickly got to a point where I knew that if it was ever going to get better, I had to ask for help.
If you’re an introvert like me, then you know the fear that comes from making yourself vulnerable and asking for help.
I started by calling a really good friend of mine that has a sister that owns a marketing agency.
I grew up with my friend and have known her family for years. Even so, I felt awkward asking for help, but I said a prayer and pushed past my fear. I asked my friend if she thought her sister would be willing to discuss my idea with me.
My friend said she was sure she wouldn’t mind, so I reached out to my friend’s sister.
The conversation felt a little weird and awkward, but because of that conversation, I gained a lot of valuable insight.
Witness of Wonder (WOW)
Even better than the insight I got, I saw what I like to call a WOW moment. It stands for witness of wonder. It’s those moments that you know only happened because God had a hand in it.
I recognized God at work because when I spoke with my friend’s sister, she said I know that I'm meant to do something about this because you are the third person in a few short weeks that have contacted me for advice on starting a business.
PIN IT FOR LATER
What Keeps you from Accepting the Gifts and Talents God has Given to Others
I think our desire to be in control prevents us from asking and accepting help.
How Control Prevents you from Seeing God’s Invitation to Make Something Even Better than you Imagine.
Control makes you think that your way is the only way. It’s the belief that you know the best way to make something happen. I've always been somebody who works hard at accomplishing my goals. My husband's very kind, and he calls me determined. Perhaps he really means that I don’t like to give up control, and I can be very stubborn.
Giving up control means you have to embrace more than one way to make something happen. And your way might not be the best. So trust God and accept his loving gift to support you with those He has placed on your path.
Activity to Encourage you to Seek other People’s God-Given Gifts to Help you with your Dream
- Think of something that you want to accomplish. That could be a big goal, a big dream, or something more immediate. You decide! Then write it down.
- Next, think of three things that you would need to do to make that happen. And that doesn't mean you do those three things, and you're done. It could be just the start of it. What are the first three things that need to be done to accomplish your dream?
- For each of those tasks, think about people you currently know who might be good at them.
- Lastly, contact one of those people that you think might be good at your tasks and ask them if they would be willing to talk with you over coffee or your favorite beverage of choice:)
I know it’s not easy to ask other people for help, especially if you aren’t sure what you need. But I think once you start layering your gifts and talents with other people's gifts and talents, you end up with something far more beautiful than either of you could have imagined.
Journal Prompts to Achieve God's plans with Help from Community:
Romans 12:6-8 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Journal about the following things:
- How do you feel when you help someone you love?
- How do you feel at the thought of asking somebody else for help?
- What do you think is holding you back from asking others for help?
- Who in your life makes it easy to ask for help.
- Why do you think that is?
God has created us for a purpose, His purpose. He designed each one of us with different gifts and talents. When we are generous with our time and talent and accept the help of others, we gain momentum and encouragement to live the life God prepared in advance for us to do.
Where will your dream take you, and who can you invite in to make it even better than you can imagine?