Dare to See

I had been pacing around my classroom all morning, waiting to see if the educational team would come and notify me of my acceptance into the Vanguard program. By 1pm when no one had arrived, I knew that I had been rejected but since I still had students in front of me, there was no time to wallow in my disappointment. I plastered on a smile and pressed through the rest of the day. I found out that a friend’s daughter had been accepted and, while I was genuinely excited for her, a part of me wrestled to find peace in God’s NO.

Ok, honesty moment- that last sentence was kind of a lie. Friday was the 21st and I was waiting to hear back from TWO professional opportunities. With the denial of one, I was looking for peace and preparing for the possibility of TWO denials. As I continued to stalk my work email all afternoon, I soon saw that my “denial” into the Vanguard program was actually a DELAY, in that I had been wait-listed. I truly did find some peace in that email. I figured that it was an email that they sent to every non-selected applicant, but I still chose to see the YET in the sea of words that were before me.

Later that evening, I was talking to my bestie, per our usual, and she was responding to a joke that I had made with her own witty banter. I was in the kitchen getting my dinner ready and I decided that it was the perfect, random time to check my personal email. When I did, I saw an email title that caused me to make the loudest scream/screech in the world. My application had been selected. I was approved. The second of the two professional opportunities had garnered a YES and I couldn’t stop screaming and crying… in my bestie’s ear. (Sorry, bestie!) I read the email over and over again, making sure that I didn’t miss any important parts. Read, scream. Read, cry. Read, scream. That was the pattern for the rest of the night and, truthfully, even now as I write.

But there is something that I do not want any of us to miss in this post- Dare to See.

In a literal aspect, I would have missed the good news had I not taken a moment to check my personal email account. In a figurative way, I would have missed God’s YES if I had stayed in the despair of His NOT YET.

Beloved, don’t stay in the not yet.

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As we dare to dream, plan, and serve, we must be ever so cautious to make sure that we SEE- in the natural and the spiritual realms- what God is doing in our lives. We will receive a ton of NOs and NOT YETs in our life but I dare you to see God’s providence in the answers that don’t match your desire. I dare you to still trust God, even when what you can see in front of you does not match what God has spoken to your heart or revealed in some way. I dare you to see God.

As with anything that I say to you, I say it first to myself. Thinking back on 2021, God had plans for me that even now, I don’t know how He did all that He did. I don’t know why He chose to bless me the way He did and I surely don’t know why He has called me to the places where my feet now tread. Can I be honest with you? I am still waiting for one more decision to come in about another BIG professional move. I was nominated for something that I had not only never heard of before, but also had never dreamt of in my entire life. That nomination was something that was not even on my radar to see. Whether I am accepted or not, I’m going to sit right here and praise my God for the nomination! Someone saw something in me that I never knew existed. Someone saw what I could not see. Someone saw what I did not dare to see.

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Please, dear friend, dare to see more than you can see right now. Dare to see that so much more awaits you as God continues to work in your life. Dare to see what awaits you on the other side of your current situation.

Dare to see.
And then,
Dare to believe….

Be blessed.