The Wishing Well

~~ Psalm 37: 4-7a ~~ “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.  Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this; He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.  Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him...”
  

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Casey standing by a Wishing Well
Photo by Carley

I love that little ‘plop’ sound.  The one you hear when you toss a coin into the water in a wishing well.  I am sure everyone has tossed a coin into a wishing well at least once in their life.  Standing with eyes closed and coin in hand, I repeat a wish to myself in my mind.  I wish I had a job, I wish I could go back to school, I wish I had a boyfriend, I wish I had a flatter stomach, I wish I had bigger breasts, I wish I could lose that last 20 lbs, I wish I had another house, I wish I was a better photographer, I wish I was a better decorator, I wish I was a better writer, I wish others could see the me that I see in my dreams.  The list goes on and on.  Then I toss the coin, listen for the ‘plop’; and watch the little water ripples for a minute, feeling a little bit of anticipation, as if I expected the ‘Wishing Well Fairy’ to come out and grant me my hearts desires.

It sounds a little silly when you think about it.  I mean, seriously; how much can we expect to get for a quarter these days?!  Or maybe you ‘splurged’ hoping to get a big dream by tossing in a one dollar or two dollar coin, or even a few coins?!  Well, I hate to be the one to shatter the fantasy world, but the Wishing Well Fairy has retired and moved back home with the Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Fairy God Mother, and Santa Claus; never to be seen.  You can dump all the coin in the whole city into that well and it will not grant you your wish.  The only thing you will have accomplished is to waste a lot of money by dumping it into a hole in the ground!

God is the only one who can grant wishes to come true.  Even then it is dependent on whether or not it is in His will, if you are an obedient Christian, and if your heart truly has pure motives.  Matthew 5:8 tells us “Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God”.  If you want your wishes to come true you have to do something about it.  Nothing is going to fall out of the sky and into your path.  You have to work for it; and if you don't have to work for it then you probably don't want it! God gave us common sense and free will for a purpose.  If you want those wishes to come true, you need several things.

1. The desire to do something about it.  If your motivation is strong enough, you will have the inspiration to take steps toward making your dream a reality.  If your drive is not strong enough to force you to take action than you have to ask yourself, why not?!  Is this dream truly what your heart desires?  Is there something standing in your way; such as fear, anger, or insecurities?  
2. A plan, with goals stated out step by step.  Seriously, write it down!  Make a plan; write a journal, order blue prints; put it on paper with the process details including major goals, minor goals, and deadlines!  If you do not have all the resources you need, such as enough financing for example, than make those problems a part of your plan.  One of the first major goals should be to be getting enough money!  What are you to do to get it?  
3. Accountability. If you think you cannot hold yourself accountable, than you also need to develop an accountability plan.  Ask; or hire, if necessary; someone to help you stay accountable.  If you have some road blocks standing in your way such as fear or insecurities, then you have to put it in your plan to get around these as well.  Conquer them.  Seek out the help you need to get around them.  Ask God to show you how to do this.  He will insist that you step out of your comfort zone, so be prepared.  Also, brace yourself to forge through some very painful things that you most certainly do not wish to face... but sooner or later you have to, if you expect to make progress in any direction. 
4. Your focus to be on God.  Your plan has to be one that will bring glory to God, and bring you closer to Him.  Your heart has to hold this as a vital purpose in your plans. 
5. Faith that He will make your dreams reality; or to lead you to a much better dream.  Even when things look impossible, do not give up.  A very special friend once told me when I was about to throw in the towel “Do not Quit.  It is when things look impossible that God does His best miracles”.  My friend was right.  I have seen God do miracles in my life because I refused to let go of my faith.  I remind myself of this on a regular basis now, to help make sure I do not ever give up hope in God. 
6. Prayer.  Above all else, you have to keep God in the loop with each and every step.  Ask Him, to give you a clear vision of the goal; about the steps to take, how to progress, and how to make your plan a reality.  Then listen for His voice, and watch for messages that He will send you.  Also, keep in mind, that His answer may be “no”.  It may take a while but He will respond one way or another.  Everything happens in His time, so be patient.  Ask Him to reveal to you, a new and better plan if this one should not be in His will.  Then ask Him to make your heart willing; and your eyes, ears and mind open to receive the messages He is sending you.  Have you ever done that before... ask God to change your desires?  It is very difficult, but I assure you that it is worth it!  Without God as your leader, your plan will not be a success.  At some point it will fail.  Even if it does become a reality, it will not turn out to be what you hoped it to be.

Wishing wells can be beautiful with a certain magical quality about them; but if you keep looking into a hole filled with water and reaching for wishes, sooner or later you are going to fall in and drown.  God is ready and waiting for you to ask Him to help.  He put your desires in your heart, and He put them there for a reason.  He has a plan to make them happen.  God not only wants you to have dreams; He wants to give them to you, and more!  Mostly, He wants to be included in those dreams.

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~~ Dear God ~~ Your ways are perfect.  Your plans for my life are better than any dreams my heart can desire.  Please let all my wishes be tossed into Your Wishing Well, and not into anything that is not in Your Will for me.  Lead my every step so that my desires will be those that will show Your awesome love, grace and mercy.  In Jesus name, AMEN.

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