FROM ACORN TO OAK TREE | MISSIONARY LIFE
Last year Jesus gave me a vision. In it I was in a packed van, full of friend's voices when I suddenly heard no more noise, and saw nothing but a wide-open field.
In the middle stood an oak tree that was magnificent, massive, strong! I felt total peace and I knew that this was a vision from God. I asked again and again what it meant, It took an entire year for Him to tell me.
I was a Starbucks barista by this time, serving coffee and feeling crushed. I went from missions to a coffeeshop. How could this be me living to my fullest potential? I struggled with the idea that I had walked away from something that was greater than the other.
I took a walk and cried out to God. I told Him of my fears, "Jesus, I have big dreams, dreams that You've given me, and I'm so confused! Why do You have me here making lattes? I could be doing much more somewhere else!"
My perspective shifted after He spoke so kindly to me⎼first by giving me this quote I read that morning, “Think of the self that God has given as an acorn. It is a marvelous little thing, a perfect shape, perfectly designed for its purpose, perfectly functional. Think of the grand glory of an oak tree. God’s intention when He made the acorn was the oak tree. His intention for us is ‘… the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.’ Many deaths must go into our reaching that measure, many letting-goes. When you look at the oak tree, you don’t feel that the loss of the acorn is a very great loss. The more you perceive God’s purpose in your life, the less terrible the losses seem.” -Elisabeth Elliot
God said, “You’re that acorn.” He reminded me of the vision He had given me the year before, and then He made me a promise⎼that I would one day be an oak tree.
It’s not a process to take lightly, and it won’t happen overnight.
After all, this massive tree arises from a tiny acorn to do great things, to provide shade for others in the Kingdom of God, that’s going to take some training and some time in the dirt, hidden away.
At times it may seem like God has given you this oak tree kind of dream, MASSIVE, big and amazing, and you just can’t wait to be that oak tree He’s spoken to you about.
But you’re so discouraged because you’re still hidden away in the soil, not yet breaking the surface. I’m here to give you this encouragement, don’t be afraid to dream big, but start out small.
Each step you take has purpose. Embrace where you are and do what you can right now. You are being trained, and the very King of Kings who created your heart with all it's desires, will not lead you wrong.
___
Ready to dream? Plug into the next Discipleship Training School and discover God's purposes for your life.
