4 Reasons Why My Dreams (and yours) Have Yet to Come True

The other day I was talking with a friend, and he asked me a question that left me at a loss for words. “What have you done with that project?”

For a moment I stood there awkwardly, knowing that I had no answer for him. He was asking about a project that I’d started working on a few years back. What I had done with it since then? I had nothing to say. The answer was clearly, nothing.

As a millennial, my generation is known for a few specific things: being opinionated, being entitled, and being inclined to take risks that those before us would not. Even so I found myself without explanation as to why the passion that once consumed my heart, was now safely tucked in the recesses of my mind. After a time of reflection, here’s what I realized.

I lost heart.

It's no mystery why the scripture so often reminds us not to lose heart, because any work of significance has to find passion from within. When I initially started the project, I felt strong and certain. I was full of fire, with a world of people encouraging me, but as time wore on enthusiasm waned; the path seemed to have more obstacles than rewards. After a while I was uncertain of whether what I had set out to do was really God’s plan or even a worthwhile endeavor. So I stepped back, bit by bit until I was miles away from the path I had chosen. So often, we start aggressively building a dream, but after a few discouragements and closed doors we pivot in hopes of finding an easier path.

I craved safety.

No one really thinks of safety as a sinful proposition, luring us away from the path of destiny. However, our safe jobs, safe ministry tasks and safe lifestyles take something valuable from us; it takes our time. Wherever we consistently invest our time and energy is by definition our true priority, whether or not we profess it to be. If we do not have enough time to do what we believe we are called to do, then we may be hiding our true hearts. We may be hiding it for fear that it will be broken by failure. Nonetheless, the scriptures teach, “Where your heart is, your treasure will be also…” - Matthew 6:21. If we never follow what God puts in our hearts, how will know his treasures?

I felt fear.

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) is a token phrase coined by millennials like me. We are pensive, uncertain and commitment phobic, and this is just when choosing our dinner order. Frequently we are paralyzed by the size of our own dreams. We can see the first step clearly, it’s just the other 10 moves between where we are and where we’d like to be that confound us. Loving and choosing a dream, any dream, will incur a measure of suffering. I went out on a limb for my dream, but a comrade who promised unwavering support left me high and dry. I felt abandoned, horrifyingly lost, adrift in a turbulent sea. I have never forgotten that feeling and in a way it has kept me on the shore ever since.

I forgot my Source.

Perhaps one of the main reason we stop short of reaching our goals is that we forget that we are accountable to One who is greater than our lagging enthusiasm, need for safety, and built up fears. It is no mistake that we call our talents ‘gifts’. They were freely given to us for a purpose, by our Creator, yet so many of us rarely consider ourselves accountable to Him for what we do with them. It is startling to consider that we are daily, walking toward the greatest accountability meeting we can fathom. But here is the good news! God is not waiting at the end of the line, just to ask what you’ve done. He is with you every step of the way as you walk, empowering you to do all things through Christ.

Today is the day to pick up those dreams that we left by the way side, to carry them back to the gift-giver and let him breathe new life into them!

We are taking dreams, plans and visions back to the Father! What is it that you need God to breathe new life into? Tell us in the comments, and join us on Facebook for our Accountability Party! We are committing to getting moving by November 9th, 2018 and we want you to be onboard with this journey.