Connecting the Dots

Let me introduce you to my 18-year-old self. I was intelligent, witty and a quick thinker. I had been raised to do the right thing in every situation and I would have told you I accomplished that most of the time. When many of my peers were struggling to decide what was right or wrong, I'd already had my mind made up and a formulated debate in my mind waiting for the moment to convince anyone who asked my opinion.

This mindset translated into my faith as well. I thought loving Jesus was all about obeying his commands - doing the right thing - at any cost. In my early twenties, I asked God to show me more of his heart and desires which led me to receiving a lot of words challenging me to do some pretty outlandish things. After a year of following God's commands, I was burned out. Every time I obeyed I felt like I was beaten down further than I could have imagined before, but the bruises just kept coming. 

In the years that followed, I started asking God "why" like so many others who've hit rock bottom. How could he tell me to do all these things and then not reward me for my obedience? Had he really told me to them? Did I hear him right? The healing process has been a long one, but I'm recuperating. Recently, I had the strength to ask God those questions again about what is in his heart.

His response came in the form of another command, so to speak. Last week I followed God's prompting, confident that he was going to do something. But nothing tangible came from my obedience. The amazing thing? This time I wasn't discouraged. I was still confident that God was doing something, it simply may not have been what I thought it was at first glance. As I was praying over this situation today, God showed me this beautiful image of a Connect the Dots. 

As you're following the numbers, you start to get an idea of what the picture will be. I for one have been guilty of missing a dot because all of a sudden one of the numbers jetted out to the corner of the page from the center cluster; it simply took me off guard because it didn't match what I thought the picture was going to be. All in a split second, I realized that obeying God is like connecting the dots. 

When God tells us what is in line with his heart, we need to do only that thing. We should not assume even two more logical steps down that path because the number 29 may not be near 28 and 30. God is asking us to connect one dot at a time, trusting that if we follow the numbers, the picture will look as it should in the end. I want to connect the dots. And I want God to keep giving me the extravagant puzzles that have unexpected dots. But even more, I want to trust him as I connect the dots, free to let go of the path I envisioned I was taking.


Connecting the Dots of His Love.
Always in Love.