ENGAGING THOUGHT
Several years ago, a Seattle-area TV station aired a series on the Washington State Lottery. Each evening they'd highlight one aspect of the lottery, it's promised revenue-stream (which for some reason didn't work out as promised - shocking!), and it's winners. The most memorable episode detailed the before-and-after stories of the big-winners ($1 million+, if I recall). Not surprisingly, almost all of them were worse off after winning than they were before. The moral of the story: instant financial success wasn't all they dreamed it would be. My point in sharing this story: don't confuse a short-term accomplishment with a life-long DREAM.
A common mistake we make when it comes to God's DREAM is mistakenly identifying goals as dreams. Think of it in these terms: God's DREAM has more in common with the Starting-Blocks in a race than it does with the Finish-Line. Don't push that illustration too far and assume that life doesn't really begin until we fulfill God's DREAM, rather, it's that so many of us see the DREAM as the end of the race - the FINISH-LINE. Nope. Maye it would be better if I said, "God's DREAM for your life is the entire race." Which (coincidentally enough) is another one of the markers helping us to identify God's DREAM for our lives.
As you're attempting to clearly define what God's DREAM is for your life it's vital that you keep in mind the last word of that statement: life. Not episode or chapter. Not phase or season. God's DREAM for your life isn't about pushing toward a great moment when you throw your hands up in triumph, break through the tape amidst the applause of the crowd and your adoring fans, yelling out at the tops of your lungs, "Yes! I did it!" If that were all it was about, how do you follow up on that? What happens next?
I'll let you in on a secret: I don't use the word accomplish in reference to God's DREAM because we don't accomplish His DREAM - we live His DREAM. Goals can be accomplished; DREAMS are lived. Goals are short-term; DREAMS are life-long. God's DREAM for you will have many short-term accomplishments involved (i.e. education, practical experiences, milestones along the way, etc.) that take on the form of goals you will work toward. His DREAM, however, is more than just the sum of those parts and points toward a life lived fully as He designed. I had a discussion about dreams with a group of pastors one day and I asked one of them (a friend of mine) what his dream was. His reply, "To pay off my son's college." Sounds noble, I guess, but it saddened me. Why? Because there will come a day when he will send off that final tuition-check or payment to Sallie Mae...then what? Will all these years have been spent for that single moment?
There's a reason we do this, of course. I think it stems from the fact that a goal is measurable...quantifiable...controllable. Let's admit this: daily life can get tedious and monotonous sometimes. We need milestones to break up the monotony; we need "wins" along the way to remind us why we're striving at all. I don't have a problem with that. However, if all we're doing is striving toward the next goal, how do we know the goals are accomplishing anything of value? I know I'm likely to make a bunch of enemies on this example, but hopefully you'll hear my heart: it's like professional sports. What do professional sports actually accomplish? I understand collegiate sports...and intramural sports...and little league, even adult sports leagues. Tremendously valuable, life-long lessons can be learned when children and young people participate in athletics (teamwork, discipline, dedication, etc.). Fine. But, adults being paid to put a ball in a hoop or a hole? What exactly hangs in the balance there? What if I put it this way: If a professional basketball game were to never be played again, would anything about life be fundamentally altered? That's an extreme example of what happens when we allow goals (or "wins") to be the end-all, be-all of our pursuit; when goals are detached from real purpose.
God's DREAM for your life contains the fullest expression of how He made you and the fulfillment of the reason He made you. We fulfill it in the discovery, pursuit, and living of it. His DREAM is life-long for you.
Rewrite your dreams in a manner that can be a life-long pursuit. If you simply can't do it - that's a pretty good sign that it isn't a God DREAM. That doesn't mean it's a bad thing, maybe it's a goal along the way, maybe it's part of the process - just not the full DREAM.
A common mistake we make when it comes to God's DREAM is mistakenly identifying goals as dreams. Think of it in these terms: God's DREAM has more in common with the Starting-Blocks in a race than it does with the Finish-Line. Don't push that illustration too far and assume that life doesn't really begin until we fulfill God's DREAM, rather, it's that so many of us see the DREAM as the end of the race - the FINISH-LINE. Nope. Maye it would be better if I said, "God's DREAM for your life is the entire race." Which (coincidentally enough) is another one of the markers helping us to identify God's DREAM for our lives.
As you're attempting to clearly define what God's DREAM is for your life it's vital that you keep in mind the last word of that statement: life. Not episode or chapter. Not phase or season. God's DREAM for your life isn't about pushing toward a great moment when you throw your hands up in triumph, break through the tape amidst the applause of the crowd and your adoring fans, yelling out at the tops of your lungs, "Yes! I did it!" If that were all it was about, how do you follow up on that? What happens next?
I'll let you in on a secret: I don't use the word accomplish in reference to God's DREAM because we don't accomplish His DREAM - we live His DREAM. Goals can be accomplished; DREAMS are lived. Goals are short-term; DREAMS are life-long. God's DREAM for you will have many short-term accomplishments involved (i.e. education, practical experiences, milestones along the way, etc.) that take on the form of goals you will work toward. His DREAM, however, is more than just the sum of those parts and points toward a life lived fully as He designed. I had a discussion about dreams with a group of pastors one day and I asked one of them (a friend of mine) what his dream was. His reply, "To pay off my son's college." Sounds noble, I guess, but it saddened me. Why? Because there will come a day when he will send off that final tuition-check or payment to Sallie Mae...then what? Will all these years have been spent for that single moment?
There's a reason we do this, of course. I think it stems from the fact that a goal is measurable...quantifiable...controllable. Let's admit this: daily life can get tedious and monotonous sometimes. We need milestones to break up the monotony; we need "wins" along the way to remind us why we're striving at all. I don't have a problem with that. However, if all we're doing is striving toward the next goal, how do we know the goals are accomplishing anything of value? I know I'm likely to make a bunch of enemies on this example, but hopefully you'll hear my heart: it's like professional sports. What do professional sports actually accomplish? I understand collegiate sports...and intramural sports...and little league, even adult sports leagues. Tremendously valuable, life-long lessons can be learned when children and young people participate in athletics (teamwork, discipline, dedication, etc.). Fine. But, adults being paid to put a ball in a hoop or a hole? What exactly hangs in the balance there? What if I put it this way: If a professional basketball game were to never be played again, would anything about life be fundamentally altered? That's an extreme example of what happens when we allow goals (or "wins") to be the end-all, be-all of our pursuit; when goals are detached from real purpose.
God's DREAM for your life contains the fullest expression of how He made you and the fulfillment of the reason He made you. We fulfill it in the discovery, pursuit, and living of it. His DREAM is life-long for you.
"Hope deferred makes the heart grow sick, but desire fulfilled is a tree of life" (Proverbs 13.12).
ACTION STEP
For this next step in identifying God's DREAM for your life, take the "survivors" from yesterday's ACTION STEP and explore how they can become a life-long pursuit rather than a short-term goal.
EXAMPLE: "My dream is to have a retreat location: cabin in the woods, lake house, ski chalet, whatever." Becomes: "My dream is to provide a location and opportunities to help others refresh and recharge."
Tomorrow we intentionally stop the process and take a listen for confirmation or redirection.
No comments:
Post a Comment