Life is full of possibilities…

Imagine yourself an architect who had a dream to build an extraordinary building…a structure so unique and so grand it would make Frank Lloyd Wright look as though he lacked ingenuity and creativity. What if you were given everything you needed to fulfill such a dream? You had the idea, the education and experience, the finance and tangible resources? Would you pursue it? Would you believe that you could do it? Your Father raised you up right, cared for you, poured every imaginable resource into you…he breathed His life into you so that you could live an extraordinary life. He told you time and time again, “You can do it, I know you can.” Would you believe him?

To build such a building, something with a magnitude for absolute greatness, it’s going to take time. You are going to have to fine-tune the blue prints over and over as you lay out your plan. You are going to have to research to ensure you have the most skilled workers on your team of construction. Finest materials available, of course, you need those, too. The foundation… the foundation for such a grand building is going to have to be built to last. This building will be made of such materials that it can weather any storm or disaster and survive the natural elements. Should you dare to dream, believe and pursue to achieve such an architectural dream, it could take a lifetime to build. Would you build it anyway?

Everything I just described is YOU. You are that building. You are the architect of your own life. God has been like a father who poured every experience of your life for the exact experiences you needed to succeed. Every experience, the good and bad, has brought you “life experience” and with it came wisdom. God, like a father, has placed His Hope in you and made His blue prints available to you on how to build a rock solid, sure and steady life. It is found in the Word, the Bible. The only thing with this book, is that you have to not only believe it, you have to receive it to such a level into your heart and mind that you actively pursue living it out. You have to accept every promise as true with the understanding that it was written for you.

There is a hymn that was written in the early 1800’s that I grew up singing in church by the title, “Solid Rock”. The chorus goes…

“On Christ the solid Rock I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand.”

Short. Simple. Pointed. POWERFUL!

We can toil, labor and work harder than hard, but our labor is in vein if the foundation isn’t right. God wants to build something so incredible with your life that the foundation has to be secure. It has to be without flaw or blemish. It has to be absolutely built on Him. If it is not, when fame or success comes the cares of blessing may overshadow the glory of your salvation.

God uses our trials to test our hearts purity. He is shaking our tree to test the quality of our fruit. He is pruning us, like a vine, so we can produce a more productive crop. All these analogies to say this…

The trials we face in life don’t last forever. We suffer for a time and God uses it to expose the impurities within us that He would like to address and remove should we allow it. But the true test of our faith, our character, our determination to give God our all, comes with the blessing. Blessing is tricky. Everyone wants it and I know God desires to give it. God enjoys to give people good gifts. But when we are blessed, and I mean really blessed, we can become so consumed by the blessing we forget about God. Even if we are still praying, speaking of him, reading His word…we become many times more wrapped up in the blessing than in Him. The Lord wants you in such a place of gratitude for Him and for the simple treasures of life that when blessing comes we would be overwhelmed with His goodness, Grace, Mercy, Love and we are able to help others through the trials they face. Each trial is a new opportunity to grow and learn more, about ourselves, about God and about others.

The greater the Vision, the Dream, the Purpose, the more preparation required to fulfill it. Nothing is impossible! Nothing! In fact, with God ALL things ARE Possible! (Matthew 19:26) Maybe you are saying, “I can’t do it, my dream is too big or I am too small and insignificant.” Maybe you have written a long list of all the reasons you aren’t qualified and a short list of why you should even dare to try.

Do not disqualify yourself, ever!

Look at the Wright brothers, Wilbur and Orville. When they were boys their father gave them a toy helicopter made of cork, paper and a rubber band. This was their source of inspiration to become the first men to fly for the first time a free, controlled flight by a power-driven airplane. Did you know that Wilbur didn’t even receive his high school diploma? I challenge you to research all the trials they had in their efforts to develop this plane. It wasn’t easy. They had all kinds of things go wrong. Then, when they did fly, no one believed them and many didn’t even appreciate their achievement. Instead of becoming discouraged and giving up, they persisted without exception and took their invention to Europe in hopes of further success and they found it. Once returning to the US they were wealthy and famous and began filling contracts for airplanes in both the United States and Europe. (work cited www.biography.com/people/wilbur-wright-20672839)

They were equipped, their father gave them a gift of inspiration, and they allowed their dreams to take flight, literally. All the challenges were really instruments of grooming for their creativity and longevity to succeed.

My friend, there is a song in your heart that only you can sing. It may not be a literal song, but it’s a dream, a vision, a hope or desire that has been planted deep within you like a seed. God knew every experience, encounter, attribute and resource you would need to accomplish your desire. You will get there, you will over come. You will take the prize and declare to others your victory won. From it, inspiration will come that will give rise to a dream in the hearts of others who maybe have never been told that they could believe, or dream or dare to achieve greater things. To me, this is simply beautiful.

You are the architect of your life…build it larger than life!

~Nicole

“Every great architect is- necessarily – a great poet. He must be a great original interpreter of his time, his day, his age.” Frank Lloyd Wright