Written by Justin Vovk

You get to a point in life where you have to stop having dreams just have to accept what you’ve got and make the best of it, yes? No! If I had stopped dreaming and believing what God has for me then I’d probably be in a dead end job for the rest of my life, or probably I’d even be dead. So why am I not? Here’s why…

I’ve had health problems my whole life. I went through a SIXTEEN YEAR battle to try and get a diagnosis,

to get doctors (and everyone else) to take me seriously. To make a VERY long story short, a few years ago I got just that. A diagnosis. One that basically said, “this is what you have, we can’t do much about it, good luck!”

Around the same time, I felt God put it on my heard to go to university and get my doctorate in history. I had already been doing some writing on the side, and God had really blessed that! But really God? I was 27, living with my parents because I was too sick and too immature to do anything else, and God wanted ME to start on a career path that would easily require 10 years of schooling!?

Well, God kept putting it on my heart. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach, in my dreams at night, I felt electrified by it. Was God really birthing new dreams in me, when I felt like my life had already come and gone? The answer is YES! I felt so clearly that God was calling me to be a Christian academic, someone to show the world you can be educated, intellectual, and influential AND be a Christian! Well, I got into university, and I learned that when God calls you, He also equips you! I found such overwhelming favour and blessing with my professors, in my classes, and I loved every minute of it.

Now, I’m writing this to you from Oxford University. Yes, THE Oxford. God opened up a door for me to do a visiting semester at one of the top universities in the world and has made so much provision for me here. And no, it doesn’t end there. Last week I found out I got into grad school, and God being who He is, it wasn’t just a simple acceptance. It’s a fully-paid for graduate degree, a teaching position, and provision beyond what I ever could have dreamed of! So yes, at 31, I’ve realized dreaming is NOT just for children.

For years, my mother has so often held to Joel 2:25-26 for my life, and honestly, I never really believed it in my heart until now. Thanks Mom, for standing on God’s love for my life even when I didn’t always believe it:

“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you. You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame”

Written by Justin Vovk

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