The Possibility of Achieving The Dream –
Whose dream is it anyway? The only dream that you want to achieve is the plan that God has for your life. You really don’t want the dream that is merely your dream, and you especially don’t want the dream someone else has for you. Achieving either of those dreams would mean that you’d be walking outside of God’s perfect will for your life.
We’ve talked about the benefits of having a dream that is inline with the direction that God is leading (Part 1), even if you are not sure that the dream itself is what you are to achieve. But what about all those well-meaning people who want to tell you what your dream should be?
Don’t you love and appreciate every referral and every idea that someone has for you? I do. Really, I do. But having said that, have you ever had someone paint a picture of what you ought to be doing, but hearing it made you cringe?
Sometimes the dreams others have for you are like ill-fitting shoes. Don’t adapt those dreams as your own, but don’t completely toss them out either. Instead, hear them out. Take a closer look. There may be something there you can use. Just be careful that you don’t exchange your dream for theirs.
When God paints a dream for you, it fits well. It may not be anything that you thought you’d like, but you will be happy in it.
Consider Paul and Silas in Acts 16. They were sitting in prison. Although they had been beaten, they sang praises to God. I believe that they were able to do this because the dream that they had was to walk in God’s perfect will. They were serving because they chose to serve. God provided them the grace to do it, and it fit them well. In other words, they loved serving Jesus as missionaries no matter the cost. They were happy to do it.
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here. Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas, And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
Acts 16:25-34
Because Paul and Silas were happy to serve, they were effective.
LIFE APPLICATION
The challenge is to understand that you will be the happiest and the most effective achieving the dream that God gives you. You may not be called to be a missionary in the typical sense of the word, but even on your job you can be effective for Jesus. Maybe your dream is to be an NFL Quarterback like Tim Tebow? Like Tebow, be sure to give God the glory when you get there!
Your Big Challenge
Understand that the purpose of a dream may be to spur you on to greater things. It may be that the journey is where you will accomplish what God has for you or learn new things that can lead you to new dreams. The Bible says that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. You will face challenges to your faith along the way. Greed and covetousness are both snares to be avoided. Stay out of life’s pitfalls by looking before you leap. Understand that the dream is never really an end game. Let God use you and what He gives you to reach others. Be sure to give Him the glory for your victories!