This is a great conversation topic that my former pastor, Chris Owensby, brought up on his social media accounts. I replied twice on Twitter and once on Facebook. I still could not get all my thoughts out with those three posts. So, here I am letting this one sided conversation I’ve been having over this topic fly.
I don’t believe the dream in itself ever actually dies. I think our confidence in ourselves and in Christ to make the dream a reality dies. How does that happen, though?
I remember one week when I was offered an opportunity that seemed so surreal to me. I just kept walking around thinking to myself, “Wow! Is this for real?!” I had to find out if it was a serious offer or a hoax, so I asked for more information. Once I received the information I requested, I was very unsure about my ability to accept the opportunity given to me. I only had a short amount of time to accept or decline and could not meet demanding requirements in such short time.
I prayed about it endlessly. It seemed like such a great opportunity. I didn’t want to pass it up, but I could not help thinking that maybe it just wasn’t meant to be. Perhaps it just was not the opportunity I was looking for.
I arrived at church one evening, and was told by the man who has started this conversation today. He first prayed with me about the situation. Then, he told me, “If this is truly an opportunity from God, do NOT be afraid to jump!”
Many times, we let fear get in the way of our dreams. The enemy instills a fear in us and we begin to believe the doubt and fear that we feel. We begin to fear that we will ultimately fail what we set out to do. The problem is, if we give our dreams, goals and plans over to God, and He sets out to make those dreams a reality, we shouldn’t be worried about failure. God can not and will not fail us. To believe that we will fail is, in reality, believing that God is incapable of doing anything and everything. Therefore, the dream itself has not died. The faith we have in God and that God can do all things has died.
Not only does fear get in the way, but lies that we are constantly told by the enemy get in the way as well. The enemy wants us to believe that our dreams are impossible and that we are not good enough to accomplish what we have set out to do. He tells us that we are insignificant and have no purpose.
Let me tell you that this is a BIG FAT LIE! Every human being has a purpose. You would not be here if there was not a purpose for you being here. Unfortunately, most of us believe these lies at some point in our lives. I know how hard it is to not believe them at times, but the Bible tells us differently. Christ’s love and sacrifice that we recently celebrated tells us differently.
Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed that I would find “the one”. I dreamed of finding that one man that God meant for me to be with and spending my life with him in a ‘happily ever after’ kind of way. Because of all that has happened in the past several years, I had pretty much given up hope that I would find that person. I began believing that he didn’t even exist or that God had decided that I wasn’t worth giving to anyone and gave my ‘someone’ to someone else.
It was only when I stopped looking and stopped trying to find that person that God brought him into my life. I think that we expect things to happen a certain way a lot of the time and become disappointed when it doesn’t turn out as we expected. God has a plan for our lives. Yes, his way of making it happen will differ from ours, but He can see the bigger picture.
I believe that if we will begin to give our dreams back to God and allow Him to arrange for them to become a reality in HIS way instead of trying to do it our own way, we will see marvelous things happen. Our dreams will become a wonderful reality.
Even more, I believe that if we would allow God’s dream for our lives become OUR dream for our lives, even greater things can become a reality for us.
So, ignore the lies and kick fear out the door. Remember that we can do all things through Christ. Give your dreams back to God and let His dreams become your dreams.
Dreams don’t die. Our faith and confidence that they can become a reality dies…. But only if we let them.
Perfect