By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo
Some of us give up on our dreams that God has placed in our hearts because it does not happen fast enough. But if God was the one who gave you that dream in your life, it’s guaranteed to happen but not on your timetable but His. Here’s what God says about a dream or plan that He gives you, “For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.” (Habakkuk 2:3) The “revelation” means the dream or vision that God has told us and the Scriptural passage we’ve just read guarantees it will happen if we don’t stop working and praying for it.
What we have to learn and re-learn in life is that God’s timing is perfect and ours is not. And here are the four principles we have to apply in relation to God’s timing for our dreams or plans in our life: fear not, fret not, forget not and faint not.
First is to fear not, which means trust God or have faith in God. Faith is the remedy to fear. We fear something when we don’t know much it. We fear the future because we don’t know what’s going to happen. We fear ghosts because they are not like us and we don’t know them. But faith means to trust God even if you don’t know everything because God does know everything. When our dream project or business or goal does not happen right away, we will have to trust God’s timetable for it. God often times delays our dream because He wants us to grow in character first and to grow in our trust in Him. Remember that God is more interested in us than in our dreams because it is our character that we bring into the next life and not our dreams. He wants us to mature spiritually while waiting and praying for our dreams to happen.
Second principle is to fret not which means we should not worry. The problem with worry is that it is stewing (being anxious) without doing. Our constant worry does not contribute to solving our problem but makes us only miserable. Instead of worrying better channel it into prayer because prayer can move things as advised to us by St. Paul, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Phil 4:6)
Third principle is to forget not which means study God’s promises in Scripture. “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law, day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.” (Ps 1:1-3) A requirement for God to fulfill our goals or dreams is to be knowledgeable of His word in Scripture and obeying it. Only obedient children get rewarded or the one who does not walk in step with the wicked.
And lastly, faint not which means not to get tired or not to give up on our dreams. Often times God wants us to persevere on our goals because it brings with it a lot of other virtues. Persistence will also teach us patience, hard work, creativity in finding solutions, and most importantly it makes us pray. Our goal transforms us as we transform it or make it happen. It is hitting two birds with one stone. “The Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” (Psalm 118:23)
