relentless, dangerous and maybe not so glamorous

“Quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. Set God-sized goals. Pursue God-ordained passions. Go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention. Keep asking questions. Keep making mistakes. Keep seeking God. Stop pointing out problems and become part of the solution. Stop repeating the past and start creating the future. Stop playing it safe and start taking risks. Expand your horizons. Accumulate experiences. Consider the lilies. Enjoy the journey. Find every excuse you can to celebrate everything you can. Live like today is the first day and last day of your life. Don’t let what’s wrong with you keep you from worshipping what’s right with God. Burn sinful bridges. Blaze a new trail. Criticize by creating. Worry less about what people think and more about what God thinks. Don’t try to be who you’re not. Be yourself. Laugh at yourself. Quit holding out. Quit holding back. Quit running away. Chase a lion.”

The quote above is from the book, “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day: How to Survive and Thrive When Opportunity Roars” by Mark Batterson

If I could sum up where I am right now, that block of awesomesauce would do it.

It seems several people lately are writing about dreams and goals and reaching them. And this excites me. It makes me wonder if we’re all about through being complacent and ready to actually DO something. I don’t know. But what I do know is … and have said before … God has thrown into my lap this God-sized, God-ordained passion to see women freed from pornography addiction.

Uh, me? Yeah. I’m just as dumbfounded.

To put it lightly, launching Dirty Girls Ministries is an enormous undertaking.

It isn’t polished.
It isn’t conventional.
It is certainly not glamorous.
And it is unpaved, scary and spiritually dangerous.

But the call is relentless.

“Benaiah chased a lion down into a pit. Then, despite the snow and slippery ground, he caught the lion and killed it.” II Samuel 23:20

This whole idea of lion-chasing is something of a sport. It takes endurance. It takes strength. It takes perseverance. I don’t always feel equipped to play the game.

But thankfully… He is.

The 8 weeks I spent away from blogging were immensely powerful… igniting a passion that was there but was sitting a bit stagnant. The passion that came out of that time is unexplainable but it has somehow become what my bones are made of. My marrow. I was just telling a friend “I have millions of words but none seem enough to describe this fire instead of my spirit these days.”

My heart is bursting out of my chest. My mind is racing around the clock. My spirit is electrified.

The dreams that He is placing on my heart, are surely destined to fail without divine intervention. Which tells me with absolute certainty… they are the right ones to be dreaming.

But what God is working on in me right now is the ability to let go of what I know to be tangible and logical – in order to trust in Him, who’s ways are not my ways. To trust in Him that these things that seem too big, too scary, too pricey (both literally and figuratively) … will come to fruition… in His way.

He doesn’t care that I am not fully equipped to do this. He doesn’t care that I don’t have the financial means to do what He’s asking me to do. He cares about whether I obey Him.

That’s it.

So, I trust. And I walk forward. Even if I am scared. Even if I am uncertain. Because I know that God is still in the business of doing miracles. He is still in the business of using ordinary people to do extraordinary things. He is still in the business of doing things through us that we can’t possibly do on our own. He is still in the business of meeting our needs.

And knowing all that — excites me beyond comprehension. And I hope it excites you for whatever and wherever God is taking you.

Do YOU have a God-sized dream?

Something that is relentlessly gnawing at your heart and won’t let go?

– – – – – – – –
Some ways YOU can partner with Dirty Girls Ministries
Add a widget to your website, blog, etc.
Become a sponsor by donating to the ministry financially.
Commit to praying for the ministry and the women we are trying to reach.

By Crystal Renaud

Crystal Renaud is the Founder & Executive Director of WHOLE Women Ministries whose projects include Dirty Girls Ministries and WHOLE Women’s Conference. She is also the author of Dirty Girls Come Clean (Moody Publishers), a speaker and student who lives in the Kansas City area. Follow @crystalrenaud on Twitter and visit her website for info on coaching and speaking at http://crystalrenaud.com.

0 comments

  1. Okay so as I was reading the quote at the beginning of this post I kept asking myself if I live that way or not… then I thought \If I lived all edgy… I would probably get myself in trouble\ I am glad I can touch as many people as I can in a day. So, I must say… I am content in my outreach, and I live a good life with excitement and adventure and my only goals are those that can make me a better person. Not richer or stronger just better on the inside to reflect on the outside. I needed this blog today.

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