What Is God Daring You to Do?
What’s the crazy dream God has dropped in your heart? What is He asking you to do–what thing that you know you couldn’t possibly do on your own? In fact, if you try to do it on your own you’re pretty much guaranteed to fall flat on your face. Has he given you a wild, preposterous, secret, scary, or enchanting dream or idea? That’s what I call a God Dare. Because with God anything is possible.
I have a feeling you’ve been sensing it for a while now. But as soon as you sensed it the excuses flooded in:
Who am I? I’m not equipped.
I’ve messed up way too much. God couldn’t possibly use me.
I’m too old. I missed my chance.
I’m too young. I don’t understand any of this.
God doesn’t even know I exist. Why would He use me?
. . . and a million other fears and insecurities we use to excuse ourselves from God’s divine nudge.
A God Dare is simple, really. It’s God’s yes. His gigantic smile and nod of the head, his holy high five beckoning you to believe. Begging you to take him at his word, to once and for all let go of fear, doubt, guilt, pride, and say yes to his yes. It’s God’s offer to each of us to choose to be chosen.
Your part is to trust him and step into the unknown place he’s been asking you to consider for some time, maybe years. But fear and doubt have stopped you.
Is he daring you to hold fast to that long-held dream you barely recall? Is he daring you to let go of that false view of yourself you’ve believed far too long? Perhaps he’s daring you to step out in faith and do something completely impossible and outside your comfort zone. But you can take this truth to the bank:
The impossible is God’s comfort zone.
What is God daring you to do? It likely won’t look like you think it should. It will cause you to trust him in a way you haven’t before. Know this: when the God of the universe dares you to follow him into the bottomless ocean of trust, he’ll equip you with everything you need. He is well aware you can’t begin to accomplish a God Dare without his help.
Let me be honest and tell you up front, friend: the God Dare is about faith. Big faith, pure faith, reluctant faith, miraculous faith, risky faith, crazy ridiculous faith, biblical faith—but ultimately the unseen faith that comes from one source only: God. If you want a sure thing, you don’t want a God Dare, because all trust and all faith requires risk: believing in something you cannot see.
Faith is actual substance and true evidence, but you can’t see or touch it; you can only apprehend it. Faith knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that eventually the “not yet” becomes the “will be.”
Our lack of faith quenches the supernatural because few are willing to sacrifice the good in order to attain the best. But God invites each and every one of us to believe and walk by faith. However, there’s a caveat he reveals in his Word: “Many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14).
It’s our choice whether or not we will choose to be chosen to say yes to his magnificent plan for our lives. It’s our choice to risk everything in order to change the world. The God Dare is a perspective shift, a realization God created you, for a divine reason. You’re not some random clump of cells casually dropped onto this planet. You’re on this planet for a reason.
No matter who you are, how old you are, what you’ve done, or what’s been done to you, you aren’t disqualified. You’re here on purpose and for a purpose. You might not know what that purpose is yet but that doesn’t matter. You are on God’s mind. You can’t begin to number the thoughts he thinks about you. God calls you his masterpiece, his poem, his treasured possession. The God of the universe has his eye on you.
What does a God Dare feel like? Like a cosmic bungee jump into God ’s fascinating, incredible, and world-changing future.
Can you smell the fragrance, seductive in its beauty, frightening and overwhelming your senses with power and possibility–drawing you, reminding you of something you used to believe but have forgotten somewhere along the way? The God Dare surrounds us, pregnant in our every day, infusing profound purpose into each moment.
The God Dare will challenge you to go further than you believed possible. It will cause you to take God at his word, to believe and obey, to say yes even when the yes might cost you. I promise, his dreams for you are bigger than you can imagine!
I want to be open and transparent with my life so you don’t have any preconceived notions about me. I’ve had some amazing experiences and triumphs, but the ugly truth is I’ve dealt with impatience, self-pity, addiction to antidepressants, jealousy, anxiety, pride, and more. Much more.
God radically dares each of us every single day to humble ourselves, forgive those who’ve harmed us, live generously, pray for our enemies, love the unlovable without judgment or offense, wash another’s dirty feet, and so much more. What if God dares you to give up your right to yourself, turn the other cheek, be defrauded, walk the second mile, or be reconciled to your brother? He actually dares us to live according to what we read in the Bible. My friend, you can “wash your face” or, you can wash someone’s feet.
Those willing to take a God Dare risk their lives, hide spies, kill giants, cast out demons, paint blood on doorposts, speak truth to power, touch the hem of His garment, waste costly ointment, stretch out withered hands, lower friends through roofs, follow when they don’t know where they’ll end up, and obey what they don’t understand. The ones who take a God Dare fearlessly live out their faith.
The God Dare will catch you off guard, shaking up everything you think you know about your future. Yet when you say yes, you’ll suddenly find yourself positioned to change the world. When you say yes to the possible, watch God do the impossible!
The God Dare in its simplest form is knowing deep down inside that you’re on this bedraggled planet for a reason. You’re not simply taking up space, but God has a specific plan in mind just for you. In fact, he chose you for it before the foundation of the world. He designed you very specifically for this time and this place, and he will perfectly equip you to accomplish his purpose on the earth. Your job is to choose. It’s the inkling, the drawing, the knowing that gnaws. . .that’s the God Dare!
is the author of The God Dare and Growing Great Kids: Partner with God to Cultivate His Purpose in Your Child’s Life. She’s mom to GRAMMY award winning artist Francesca Battistelli and Mimi to her 4 children. She’s been married to her amazing husband Mike for 35 years and blogs about food and faith at www.KateBattistelli.com. Kate’s a Jersey girl living in Tennessee who loves to cook, create healthy recipes and relax on her front porch on a warm summer day!
Photograph © Julian Santa Ana, used with permission
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