But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Matthew 6:33
It was an old message for today. My home office is my man-cave. It is a great place to work and a great place to remember. It is filled, and this is not a metaphor, with things that remind me of some of the adventures that my wife Judy and I have been on. It also contains things that are a part of my life story…things from my childhood, things from my Air Force days, and things about my Jesus journey. And this last one is what this Grits message is about.
So, there is a 16×20 picture that hangs over my man-cave size television. The picture was taken I’m guessing ten years ago. The location is Mali, West Africa and more specifically under a tree in a small village in the bush (or wilderness). In the picture are eight people—five are Africans and three are American. We had been called there because one of the African men believed he was demon possessed and he wanted the American missionaries to pray for him. So, we did.
After we prayed, we assured him that our God loved him dearly and wanted to set him free not just from a demon but from the sin that held him in bondage. He was grateful for the prayer, and we were grateful for the opportunity to pray. So, in this picture, one of the African men had on a bright yellow t shirt. On the back of the shirt, and facing the camera, was something written in French. It said, “Vivez Votre Reves!” Well, all these years I never thought about what that shirt said.
The other morning, I was chatting with my Dearest Daddy about what He might want Judy and me to do in the coming and remaining days of our lives. And without really thinking, I glanced up at the picture that I have seen a thousand times and pondered, wondering what the shirt said. Well, I got my iPad out and opened Google Translator and typed in the French phrase. Within a half a second, I had my answer both to what the shirt said and maybe part of what God wants us to do. The translated message on the shirt said, “Live Your Dreams.”
Well, I was amazed. To me it was one of those God moments when I was praying, and God gave me a quick answer. Now in case you are wondering, I am one of those people who believes that whatever Judy and I dream should have God written on it. In this case, God seemed to be saying, “Follow Me, dare to dream and dare to trust Me.” Wow. I think that is pretty awesome. The bottom-line, as always, is that while we may not have the details about tomorrow, we do know the One who holds our tomorrow…and He can be trusted. No matter what, no matter when, we have the confident assurance that, “He’s got this.” Bro. Dewayne
Grits with Grace 