In 2017, there is going to be a slight change up to the focus of this blog. It will still contain Christian content, but it will be focused on teaching us how to achieve the dreams God has put in our hearts, no matter our age, abilities or economic status. We are going to work together on being present in our lives to bring about the realization of our dreams and ensure it comes in line with the will of God.
What are your dreams? Are they crystal clear and are you taking daily steps to make them a reality? Or do you even know what to dream? Sometimes we get so bogged down with the day to day “To Do” lists and tasks, we don’t take the time to really be present in our own lives.
Or worse, what do we do with unfulfilled dreams? Setting goals to achieve what we believe God has called us to do, only to see them fall apart or not come to pass can be even more heartbreaking than not having any dreams at all. I get it, I’ve been there. Some days it feels like I’m still there.
Another question is do our dreams matter to God? Does He care about us fulfilling our dreams? How do we know if our dreams and desires come from God?
When these questions and more rattling around in my head, I became tired of the standard answer to finding the will of God by spending time with Him. Don’t get me wrong, my daily quiet time is essential to me, but even though I spend time with Him, I felt no closer to my dreams becoming a reality.
What does listening to God even mean and how do I discern what is the truth and what if I’m hearing only what I want to hear? I’ve struggled with this for years. I started off in one direction thinking it was God’s will for my life, which was creating my first business in 2003. It started off with high hopes and people being brought into my life that allowed me to further grow my business. As fast as my business grew, it came crashing down around my ears a few years later with the downturn of the economy. It was my belief the business was what God was directing me to do, maybe it was and maybe it wasn’t, but I was able to see the purpose of my business failing because it took my life in a completely different direction and it drew me even closer to God through the hardship of that time in my life.
However, while I learned some valuable lessons, it made me question whether or not my dream of owning my own business and using my skills as a writer, coach, and teacher were what God wanted me to do. With the help of my Christian coach asking me some great questions to help clarify my desires, I was able to determine what my dreams are and essentially do a check in with God.
Not everyone is going to get the opportunity I did to get to the middle of nowhere in the Colorado Rockies and sit by myself for an entire morning while the rest of my family slept during a camping trip over this past summer. Looking out over the mountain peaks and seeing no one else for miles, watching the sun peek over the mountain tops, I sat quietly and wrote down what I thought my dreams are based on my conversations with my coach.
It started off as one sentence. I rewrote that sentence again and again until it expanded to include almost a whole notebook page of dreams and goals for the coming year. I prayed over what I wrote down and asked God for confirmation if what I wrote was part of His will for me. What I received in the weeks and month since that time, was validation from different sources, some outside my circle of friends and family, encouraging me to continue in the direction I’m heading.
One of my goals this year is to help others to discern their dreams and to create a plan to get there. We all have gifts and abilities that God wants us to use, join me on a journey in 2017 to stop chasing our dreams and help us catch them.
Share in the comments below what your dreams are for 2017.