I have a friend who has a dream. It’s a big dream. A great dream. It excites me for her and the lives that could be touched by it. She believes God has blessed her with the vision of making that dream happen.
photo credit: robert gourley
But there’s one problem.
She’s only dreaming it. What I mean by that is she’s not taking steps to make it happen. It’s a dream that’s been a dream for years. My concern is it will never move past that.
I understand God doesn’t make things happen overnight. There’s a time for everything. He puts dreams in our hearts long before they come true. But with that said, there’s something he requires of us.
God requires action when pursuing the dreams He has given us.
I hear a lot of “When God makes this happen and when God does this,” but I don’t see action taking place to set that dream in motion.
God doesn’t call us to be passive. We have to get up and move. We have to do. As Mark Batterson says in The Circle Maker, we need to “work like it’s up to us and pray like it’s up to God.”
Sometimes I think we use God as a crutch. It’s easy to talk about the things we want him to do, but not so easy to take the responsibility he has given us to go and make those things happen. We tend to want to sit on the sidelines and wait for the blessings to just fall in our laps. Sometimes it happens that way; most of the time it doesn’t.
I knew I wanted to be a writer when my sixth grade teacher forced me to do a poetry book I absolutely wanted nothing to do with. Once I got started, I couldn’t stop. It lit a fire in me and highlighted my ability to inspire others with words. That’s a talent God has given me. Writing is a dream he has put in my heart.
I always wanted to write a book. Someday I would. I wanted to have articles published. I wanted people to read my words. But I didn’t want to do the work. Someday came and went along with excuses why things weren’t happening. I waited for someone to knock on my door, tell me how awesome I was, give me an advance on my book, and the rest would be history. If only life worked that way.
I’ve had to be proactive. God placed the dream on my heart and now he’s saying “It’s time to do your part.” That includes submitting book proposals, looking for an agent, guest posting for others, building a tribe, making daily connections via social media, sharing my story with as many people as possible, and actually writing the book. Sometimes it involves being wide awake at 3:55 on a Saturday morning writing this post.
My first book is in the publication process, but the hard work hasn’t even started. I can sit back and wait for God to put it in the hands of readers, or I can actively step up and do my part. He rewards those who are diligent.
I don’t write this to condemn my friend. I believe her dream is very active. It’s going to take a God-sized miracle to make it happen, and I’m confident He can do it with or without her. With that said, I’m afraid if she waits too long God will pass the baton onto someone else.
What are you doing to be proactive with a dream God has given you? Leave a comment below…
Your friend is a lot like my mom. God gave her a dream 10+ years ago to do something that wasn’t being done yet, and she kept saying “I really need to look into doing this.” She never did. She probably never will. And God will probably give someone else the dream to do it.
There are many dreams that I have, and one that I’m focusing on right now – writing a book with my best friend. We’ve been working on it since November & hope to have it completed by the end of August. 🙂
Congrats on your dream Denise. Sounds like you’re being proactive. Praying it all goes well.
Totally love this post. I’ve actually taken the liberty to read through your previous posts. Your passion for reaching out to hurting people through books and speaking resonates so much with what I am hoping to do. @NginaOtiende:disqus tweeted about this post, I am glad God through my curiosity got me here.
Being proactive and —“It’s time to do your part.” — after God gives us the dream is our responsibility. The tough part is that “God will pass the baton onto someone else” if we do not step into the plate and take responsibility. I am renewing my passion for reading as well as blogging to harness my skills in writing. I need to read your book so please do what you have to get it out to people, I can tell you many girls need to know about God’s unconditional love despite their past lives.
Thank you so much for those kind words Jep. I really appreciate it. May God continue to ignite the fire of dreams in you.
What great advice for all of us, Sundi! God has given us all dreams and gifts, but it is up to us to develop them. I’m reminded of the difference between the servants who invested their master’s talents and the one who just buried it in the ground.
When we follow our dreams and work hard, we will reap the benefits in more ways than we could ever imagine!
Blessings to you on your writing journey!
Thank you so much Martha and thank you for the reminder about the talents. Hadn’t even thought of that.