If Not Now, Then When?

If Not Now, Then When?

If not now, then when?

That question has followed me through many seasons of my life.

There have been moments when I have had an idea, but perhaps I didn't have the resources.

Moments when I had the vision but couldn't yet see the pathway. Moments when I knew I was capable of more, but life had me focused on simply getting through the day.

And yet, somehow, I kept coming back to the same realization:

God had already placed the seeds inside of me.

I just had to be willing to plant them.

I believe there are things God provides to each of us before we are ever old enough to understand why they were given. A gift. A talent. A passion. A vision. A story. An ability to connect with people. A desire to create something that has yet to exist.

Sometimes those gifts are obvious.

Sometimes they're hidden beneath disappointment, responsibility, rejection, fear, or years of putting everybody else's needs before your own.

But simply because something is buried doesn't mean it isn't there.

A seed doesn't stop being a seed simply because it has yet to become a tree.

I've learned that we spend far too much time evaluating what we are missing and far less recognizing what God has already provided.

We say, “I don't have enough money.”

“I don't have the right connections.”

“I don't know where to start.”

“I don't have enough time.”

“I'm too old.”

“I've already wasted too much time.”

“Someone else is already doing it.”

But what if the question isn't what you have, but what you're going to do with what was given?

I've written books because there were stories and messages inside of me that refused to remain there.

I've pursued ideas that started as nothing more than thoughts in my head.

I've created businesses and community initiatives because I could see needs that deserved solutions.

I've written music because sometimes there are things the heart needs to say that ordinary conversation cannot express.

I've continued dreaming even when the circumstances around me didn't always look like the dream.

And I've learned something along the way:

You don't need to see the entire staircase to take the first step.

You just need enough faith to move.

That's where many of us get stuck.

We want the harvest before we're willing to plant the seed.

We want the book before we're willing to write the first page.

We want the business before we're willing to start with the idea.

We want the platform before we're willing to speak.

We want the success before we're willing to endure the process.

But God never promised us that growth would be instant.

He gave us seeds.

Seeds require cultivation.

You have to water them.

You have to nurture them.

You have to protect them.

You have to be patient with them.

And sometimes you have to prune things that are taking up space but preventing growth.

That applies to life, too.

There may be people you have to release.

Habits you have to change.

Fears you have to confront.

Excuses you have to stop making.

And old versions of yourself that you have to outgrow.

Growth isn't always comfortable.

But neither is staying in a place you were never meant to remain.

I've had to learn that my circumstances don't get to dictate the size of my dreams.

My past doesn't get to determine the limits of my future.

And other people's inability to see my vision doesn't mean the vision isn't real.

Sometimes you have to believe in what God placed inside you before anybody else can see it.

That's faith.

Faith isn't pretending you have all the answers.

Faith is taking the next step anyway.

Maybe you're reading this because you've been sitting on an idea for years.

Maybe you've been telling yourself you'll start when the children are older, when the money comes, when you feel more confident, when somebody believes in you, when life settles down.

But what if life never becomes perfectly convenient?

What if the perfect time isn't coming?

What if this is your time?

Not because everything is ready.

But because you are ready to begin.

Your gift doesn't have to be perfect.

Your first attempt doesn't have to be perfect.

Your first book doesn't have to be perfect.

Your first business idea doesn't have to be perfect.

Your first song doesn't have to be perfect.

Your first step simply has to be taken.

Because sometimes the thing you're calling “not enough” is exactly what God intends to use as your starting point.

I've come to understand that purpose isn't always revealed all at once.

Sometimes purpose unfolds while you're walking.

You write the first book, and it leads to the second.

You help one person, and that person introduces you to another.

You start one idea, and that idea opens the door to another.

You plant one seed, and eventually you realize you weren't just growing something for yourself.

You were growing something that could provide shade for somebody else.

That's the kind of life I want to live.

Not simply a life where I achieve things for myself, but one where the gifts God gave me become opportunities for other people to grow, too.

Because what good is a seed if you refuse to plant it?

What good is a gift if you never use it?

What good is a dream if fear keeps you from pursuing it?

And what happens when you finally stop asking, “What if I fail?” and start asking, “What if I succeed beyond anything I ever imagined?”

That question changes everything.

So I'm challenging you and reminding myself, too:

Plant the seed.

Write the book.

Start the business.

Sing the song.

Create the program.

Apply for the opportunity.

Go back to school.

Make the phone call.

Build the dream.

Tell the story.

Use your voice.

Serve your community.

Do the thing you've been talking yourself out of doing.

You don't have to know exactly how it's going to happen.

You don't have to have every resource today.

You don't have to have everyone's approval.

You have to start.

Because what God placed inside you was never meant to remain dormant.

It was meant to grow.

And here's the part I believe with everything in me:

The life you're praying for may not be something you have to go searching for.

It may already be inside of you.

The dream is the seed.

Your gifts are the seed.

Your experiences are the seed.

Your faith is the water.

Your discipline is the cultivation.

And God?

God is the reason I believe the harvest can become greater than anything I could have imagined when I first planted it.

So stop waiting for permission.

Stop waiting for perfect conditions.

Stop burying your gifts because you're afraid someone else won't understand them.

Plant.

Cultivate.

Believe.

And keep going.

Because you never know how far one seed can grow.

And if God gave it to you, perhaps He already knew exactly what it could become.

If not now, then when?