Do You Have a Dream?

Something I enjoy asking people is "what are your hopes and dreams?" 

Mmhmm, 100%. I want to know what lights you up, what makes you feel alive, what sets your soul on fire. No pressure.  

If you and I were out to coffee and I just dropped that question on you, what would you do? 

Would you launch right into it, eyes sparkling at the prospect of living a life so meaningful–so perfectly suited to you–that it's a delight to wake up every morning and watch it unfold, even in spite of the setbacks and difficulties that will show up along the way? 

Or would you panic? Maybe you don’t actually know what your hopes and dreams are... or maybe you remember having them once upon a time, but they’ve gotten lost, disappearing under a mountain of “should.”

I know that it's not always easy to connect with this part of ourselves–with our hopes, dreams, and desires. Sometimes we have to fight our way through layers of judgmental or dismissive words spoken over us by other voices. Sometimes our dreams have gone dormant in the face of “should”–expectations placed on us by others about how our lives should be lived, of who we’re supposed to be, especially in the context of being a “good” child, or spouse, or parent, or person. These voices can be relentless, and also insidious. Without realizing it, we adopt their words as our own, and now it's our voice telling us these things, long after the other voices have gone quiet. We tell ourselves that we're being selfish or frivolous or just plain stupid if we pursue our hopes and dreams, and that our desires are always directly opposed either to being a “good” (your role here), or to God's will for our lives.

Lies, all of it. Flat out nonsense.

The things that light you up are God's gift to you. He built you to spec, fully intending for that particular thing to set your soul on fire. The God who created the magnificence that is this universe, with all its detail and mystery and wonder, did not suddenly get to the moment of creating you and go "Aw, nuts! I ran out of wonder and joy and magnificence. Guess I'll just have to make one without."
Nope, nope, nope.
He delighted in making you, and made you to take delight in living and moving, and fully, wonderfully, having your being.

The beautiful thing about fully embodying the wonder of who we are and practicing the things that make us come alive is that the joy they bring doesn't end with our individual selves. God takes immense pleasure in our joy. He loves seeing us discover our dreams–loves watching them unfold and come true in our lives. It's a gift to him when we pursue those dreams. And just as truly, when we participate in our hopes and dreams, it's a gift to the world. Yes, it is. You living your dream is a gift to the world. 

"But Faaaaaith, what about all those other people who are out there just doing whatever they want and hurting other people?!"

Please, for the love of Pete's left pinky toe, just stop.
People–even you, and especially me–do people things, and there's no way around that.
"Other people" (who I'm not talking to, by the way) by their actions cannot nullify the fact that God put dreams and desires into your heart that He wants to make come true in your life. 

We have enough of our own hang-ups to work through in order to access our dreams without worrying about how "other people" are inappropriately going about theirs. And the fact is, you are also going to go about your dreams inappropriately at times, and ultimately imperfectly. What other choice do you have? We live in the kind of world in which even our best intentions and efforts are guaranteed to have a negative fallout somewhere. Our best move–far from despairing about this brokenness and giving up–is gratefully and joyfully showing up to participate in the dreams given to us; knowing that because God is who he is, those realized dreams are going to inject goodness and truth and beauty into the world, and give grace and inspiration to those who long to trust their Creator and tap into their own God-given dreams, too.

If you really are concerned that living out the dream God has given you is going to rampantly hurt others, then take it to him and have a conversation about it. The gifts he gives glorify himself and lift up his people, and we can trust that the God of wholeness has included many opportunities to grow into maturity and health as part of the journey, so don't shy away from those opportunities when he brings them along. Often this kind of growth can be really uncomfortable, but it does make the dream more pure and beautiful, and your legacy more profound. 

“For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.” 

Ephesians 2:10 

"For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." 

Galatians 1:10

“Do not neglect the gift you have… . Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” 

1 Timothy 4:14-15

"Fret not yourself because of evildoers;
be not envious of wrongdoers!
For they will soon fade like the grass
and wither like the green herb.
Trust in the Lord, and do good;
dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
Delight yourself in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Commit your way to the Lord;
trust in him, and he will act.
He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday." 

Psalm 37:1-6