Diluted Dreams – Guest Post by Carisha Davis
Carisha Davis shares encouragement on holding firm to the promises God has for us even when they seem faint and far away…
By definition, the word dilute means to make thinner or weaker by the addition of water or something like it, to make fainter, or to reduce strength. When something is diluted, the potency that it has in its original state is stripped and it is reduced to something weaker, something reducing its strength and capabilities. When we dilute God’s dreams and provisions for us we do that same thing, we thin out and weaken his ultimate dream and provision, pathways that he has set out for us, because we find a cheaper alternative. We settle and we prematurely walk into his plans for us because we take the more reasonable offers.
The full strength solution is his perfect will, the diluted alternative is the enemy’s provision, his presentation of an alternative that is seemingly similar to what God has for us, yet lacking what has truly been set out for us. When we think we are being humble and more reasonable and accept less than his best, we are actually denouncing the greatness and majesty of our Father God. It is easy to settle. Let’s just face it: Our flesh gets tired! We get so tired of waiting out his will and we find the more “reasonable” offer because it might be the best we can get, yet if we would simply wait on him to allot us his provision, we would find that in every situation he would send us his undiluted, full strength best for our lives.
When we dilute what he has promised to us, we ultimately settle, as that is exactly what diluting or watering down our dreams or prayers is doing. Some may argue differently, but we are saying to God that he is not worth the wait, “I’ll take the watered down version instead, Lord.” One of my favorite analogies about this concept is one that I have written about many times and that is the one about the blue prints of life. I picture it like this: When we get to heaven and stand before the King he will have a blueprint of our life in his hand. But in my opinion, the greatest tragedy would be to get there and he present up two blueprints: His and ours. The greatest blessing in my opinion would be for him to pick up just one, the one that he started and finished in our lives and the one in which we submitted to and followed. God wouldn’t risk his reputation on us. The scriptures tell us that he is not a man that he should lie (Numbers 23:19). Whatever he has allotted and set out for you, no man can take away. I am going to say that again and I want you to let it settle in your spirit this time:
Whatever God has allotted and set out for you, no man can take away.
Don’t dilute his plans or water down his provisions and plans to an easier and less potent version that you can ingest prematurely. I remember as a little girl my mom would dilute cough syrups or medicines sometimes to “weaken” the potency, to make it more suitable for me as a child. It is the same with the things of God. We dilute our dreams, we water them down and kill the potency so we can get them as undeveloped children now, rather than wait on God and mature a little bit and eventually receive the full strength dreams. Naturally as I got older, mom didn’t have to dilute anything. She just gave me the cough syrup or medicine, full strength, and that was that. It took time for me to be ready for the full strength, just as it takes time for God to release to us the full strength- the complete dream, the complete release of provision, the complete permission to enter the pathway that he has set for us.
I am going to leave you with this. About a week or so I was driving and ranting to God about something that I had asked for that I felt like I should have already received. I remember saying exactly this: Gosh God, I never seem to be able to get…, when the Lord ministered to me right there a word that shut me up that afternoon and has kept me quiet since. The Lord said:
“Daughter, you are so focused on what you have never had, yet if you shifted your perspective you would see that I am trying to give you something that you have never had, but even more than that, something that has never been.”
He wants to do the same for you.
More from Carisha Davis
Carisha blogs about life and faith at Ramblings of a Ragamuffin Saved by Grace
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Check out some of Carisha’s other recent posts on her blog that are sure to encourage and inspire you:
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The word tells us of course in James 4:3 that we have not because we expect not… Continue ReadingTarget Practice: A Quick Word of Encouragement
“He often cried. He also played his harp a great deal. He had a good voice, so he often sang… Continue ReadingThere’s a Blessing in the NOs
A ‘NO’ from God is one of the greatest blessings that he can honor us with… Continue Reading
The Terrorist Called Disqualification
One of the greatest lies that the enemy can tell us is that we are disqualified… Continue Reading
Relationships/Dating: Are Scars and Past Hurts Keeping you From Loving Again?
We all have scars. Scars are our stories. Scars are our testimonies. Scars can be the result of positive or negative experiences from our past; but I like to look at them as survival stripes… Continue Reading
About Carisha Davis
If I could describe myself I would say that the phrase ragamuffin saved by grace is truly who I am. Although I love to speak through my writing, I am an introvert and extremely contemplative. I am an artist and an avid thrifter and dumpster diver, as I love to find old things and restore or refurbish them. I believe in always seeing others for who they can and will become, because that is how God has always seen me. Love God and love people is my mantra. My mission in life is to love God and love people; as well as to inspire, encourage, and do my best to leave a piece of heaven with everyone I come in contact with all the days of my life.