Wednesday, February 05, 2014

A Dream or a Nightmare

I'm sure you've heard it before: "Follow your dreams."  It's the message we tell kids, teens, and even adults.  And it certainly is a nice phrase!  It inspires people to reach high, press on, and accomplish big feats.  So what's wrong with it?  Essentially, nothing's wrong with following a dream.  The only problem is... the dreams are wrong.  That's right!  Our dreams are just plain wrong.

Wait a minute.  Who am I to make the judgment that someone's dream is wrong?!  What about the people that dream to become motivational speakers? authors? presidents?!  Although these are certainly very commendable vocations, they are completely and utterly wrong if they do not involve one crucial element: Jesus Christ.


You see, when children are asked the age-old question "What do you want to be when you grow up," the reply is usually something vocational, but seldom involves God.  And if someone's dream does not involve God, we run into a wide variety of problems.  Essentially, the problem is simple: they're our dreams.


Now, let me stop and say right now that I am certainly not - at all - against someone pursuing a career, nor am I even against someone having a dream!  I certainly have dreams of my own, and I am pursuing a career.  Where we go wrong with, however, is that we don't let God have His place in them.  His place being, of course, everything.


Basically, we get the order reversed when it comes to our dreams.  Instead of trying to fit God into our dreams, we need to start with a pursuit of God, and let our dreams follow suit.  We shouldn't follow our dreams, we should follow God, and our dreams will follow Him as well.


According to Proverbs 16:9, "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."  The question is: who's planning your way?  Are you, or is God?  If you plan your way, you'll only find disappointment.  But if you follow the Lord's plan, He'll establish your steps with His Mighty and Abundant Hand.