"See, I have placed the land before you; go in and possess the land which the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to them and their descendants after them." Deuteronomy 1:8
Taking their promised land (their dream, the realization of their stories and their hopes; of their very existance) wasn't simply like opening a Christmas present. Sometimes I think some of us (including me) think that dreams we have should be that easy. We ask God for something that we know is what we are meant to do or meant to have, and balk at the notion that we have to do something to make it happen.
In order for the Israelites to see their dream fulfilled they had to have eight things (and there is probably more but these are the ones that came to me today). These eight things are:
1. Courage
2. Faith
3. Discipline
4. Obedience
5. Teamwork
6. Vision
7. Be ready to work, lots of work.
8. Imagination
They needed Courage because what they had to do was conquer a pagan people who must have appeared very scary and powerful (because the Israelites' parents refused to fight them, refused to take the land because they were afraid).
They needed Faith because they had to believe this was God leading them.
They needed Discipline because they would have to be ready to follow a plan and be able to carry it out. No slacking was allowed. This is the principle of being ready in and out of season -- all the time.
They needed Obedience because when they were given the command the plan would only work if they obeyed (even though the instructions were goiing to sound really strange and irrational).
They needed Teamwork because they had to work together. Everyone was needed, not just a select few. No dream is realized by the effort of just one person. There are always others who helped.
They needed Vision because they needed to remember why they were doing what they were doing.
They needed to be ready to Work, to do lots of work because this was a monumental task that would require sweat and muscle power.
And they needed Imagination because God rarely if ever works the way we think He should work. He has His own way of doing things and if we don't allow Him that freedom in our lives, our dreams will never be realized.
To reach our own promised land, our own dream (whatever dreams God has laid on our hearts) we'll need these 8 things too. Develop them now. It's God's will for you to do so. I know. And when we know for sure something is God's will we can be sure He will help us do what we need to do to live out this life He's called us all to.