I had told my wife, Patty, at the beginning of the year, that I wasn’t sure what God was saying to me. I was kind of in a fog, and I hadn’t experienced that for over 20 years – and it was frustrating! I sensed that God wanted to speak to me about the season of my life and ministry. I told God that I needed to receive a word from Him. He started to speak to me, and He gave me pieces of what I believe He was asking of me.
Well – it has come to fruition. We put things up on a white board with numbers alongside each item. As I sat there, a little bit of fear came over me. The group leader kept saying, “Dwight you have 10 years left to do this.” I kept thinking, “WHAT? I’m not that old.” But, the fact of the matter is I am. Ten years from now I will be 60 years old.
As I looked at the board, I took inventory of my life. It was another humbling experience. It was like being on the other side of your life. I knew that if I was going to pursue these things with integrity, I could not remain the same. I believe that if you want to go to the NEXT LEVEL in ministry, or in life, you’ve got to go the NEXT LEVEL in your relationship with God. And this was going to have to be true of me.
I came home and shared everything with Patty and asked her to pray for me. I told her that I knew God was asking me to stop some things and to start or re-start some things. I told her that I knew I had no chance of fulfilling what He was asking me to do, without a radical transformation in my personal life.
Maybe you have a dream, vision, etc., and it is not coming to fruition. You don’t know why. You can’t figure it out. Maybe it is because you have tried to go to the next of level leadership (professionally, or in ministry) without going to the next level in your relationship with God.
It is, at least, a worthy question.
