God’s plans for you are good! As you read through His Word, you’ll be convinced of this amazing truth and the Holy Spirit will begin to deposit dreams into your heart about things you will do with your life – things that to your natural mind may seem absurd. That’s the incredible thing about it! His dreams are always beyond our own realm of possibility, and directly in His realm of the seemingly impossible.
(More on God dreams here.)
Sadly, oftentimes, along with the invigorating, intimidating, and exciting dreams that God places in your heart, comes the doubt, negativity and distractions from those who have allowed the dream in their own hearts to die.
So what causes someone’s dreams to die? I have found that there are two main things that rob people of their dreams. I’m sure there are more, but these two pop their ugly heads up quite often.
- Failure
We all experience failure. None of us have been 100% successful 100% of the time. Yet, some are so disillusioned by their failure, or by what they thought would happen, and the reality of what actually took place, that it becomes the definer from that point forward.
They would rather stay safe in their comfort zone, where they feel most in control, with a better chance of “success”, than stepping out again, and risking another potential failure. Unfortunately, this can lead to being controlled by fear.
The tragedy of this is that they actually aren’t more in control there than they would be if they’d continue to take risks and pursue the dream God had birthed in their hearts. And, the feeling of “success” in this place is actually a counterfeit. There is no success in staying put. There is no success without advancing.
Safety is mistaken for success. Success often comes with the uneasy, walking on the water, uh oh here we go, type of feeling. I guarantee you that a successful life will never be a life lived inside of your comfort zone.
The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.
But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.
Proverbs 24:16 (NLT)
- Insecurity
The best way to overcome insecurity is to do it anyway. The most liberating statement I had heard about this was from Terri Saville Foy who said, “Just because I feel something doesn’t mean that it’s true.”
If God has called you to somewhere, by definition that means you can’t stay where you are. I guarantee you that you will face insecurities along the way. The deadly trap of comparing yourself to others will present itself, and the urge to feel inadequate or least suited for the job will join in on the ride.
You are not your insecurity.
Don’t allow the failure and insecurity of others to rob you of your dreams! And even worse, don’t allow your own past failure or personal insecurity to keep you from pursuing your dreams! God’s dreams are the BEST kind, and should be pursued with everything within us.
