Chase Your Dreams! - Cornerstone Baptist Church

Everyone grows up with dreams. Time reveals that some dreams are unattainable, like my childhood dream of playing in the NBA. I maximized my talent through practice, but my DNA didn’t cooperate. That dream was simply not meant to be. Other dreams are more achievable, however, because they sync with our abilities.

Despite this truth, most people hide their dreams in the deep recesses of their hearts. They may remember them on occasion, but they remain hidden away from prying eyes. Generally, fear of failure is the primary reason that people hide their dreams. Some hide their dreams for fear of ridicule. Still others hide their dreams because they feel incapable of achieving perfection in the pursuit of them. So, they allow their dreams to slowly fade away.

In his book Quitters, Jon Acuff challenges people to chase their dreams. He attempts to dispel the fears that hold people back by asking several strategic questions:

If only your life changed, would that be enough? Most people who fear failure are trapped by a “succeed at all cost” mentality. Honestly, though, the person who benefits most from the dream is the dreamer! When we acknowledge that chasing the dream is its own reward, we will overcome this fear.
What do I enjoy doing regardless of the opinion of others? This question gets to the heart of the fear of ridicule. There will always be people who think your dreams are crazy. Generally, they are people who are afraid to chase their own dreams, so they take joy in trying to quash the dreams of others. You will be free to chase your dreams when the opinions of others cease to matter. After all, you are chasing your dream to change your life—not theirs.
What do I love enough to do for free? Many dreamers are trapped by the paralysis of analysis. They want a fully developed plan that can be executed perfectly and will produce a financial windfall. Because they can’t figure it all out up front, however, they never even get started. Dreams, however, are the things we love enough to do for free, because they are primarily for our personal development and enjoyment. Do it for free, and it just might become something that can make you some money!

This third point may be the most important. Nothing kills a dream like the prerequisite that a fully formed plan be in place before we begin. To counter this, Acuff provides a new way to think about chasing your dream.

First, be passionate about your dream. Dreams don’t happen on their own—we have to make them a reality. Passion will motivate you chase your dream.

Second, practice the things necessary for your dream to become a reality. “Success always comes when preparation meets opportunity.” There are no shortcuts to preparation; you either do it or you do not. So, practice, practice, practice.

Third, worry about the plan when passion and practice have provided you with an opportunity. Beginning with the plan will paralyze the dream. But, plans are essential if it becomes necessary to expand your dream.

Ultimately, our dreams are for us. They energize our lives and help prevent us from slipping into the rut of boredom. Here are some great principles from Ecclesiastes 10:8-10, 18.

“He who digs a pit will fall into it, and a serpent will bite him who breaks through a wall. He who quarries stones is hurt by them, and he who splits logs is endangered by them. If the iron is blunt, and one does not sharpen the edge, he must use more strength, but wisdom helps one to succeed. . . Through sloth the roof sinks in, and through indolence the house leaks.”

Principle 1: Pursuing your dream energizes your life!

In these verses, we see the picture of someone who is chasing a dream. He has purchased some land, and he is now working to make it habitable. He is digging pits, and moving rock, and cutting trees. He is working to build his house—something he has dreamed about for a long time. These are verses filled with energy! There is nothing more exciting than pursuing your dream!

Principle 2: Every dream involves risk!

As he is pursuing his dream, however, he is constantly facing risk. Difficult things can happen when your working on your land: you can fall into the pit you just dug, or be bitten by a snake, or have a tree fall on you. All of these things are simply the risks that come from chasing a dream. There are other risks too: like people thinking your dream is dumb or ready to ridicule you for trying. But, these things can’t be allowed to hinder our dreams—every dream involves risk!

Principle 3: Applied wisdom minimizes failure!

As our dreamer in Ecclesiastes is working to develop his farm, he has to make choices. And those choices may make the task easier or harder. You see, if he decides to cut all of his wood with a dull axe, not only is the job harder, it is more dangerous too. Wisdom is the gift from God that helps us pursue our dreams in the proper way. Wisdom requires us to be realistic with our dreams. We must consider our situation in life, our current finances, and abilities. Some dreams may need to wait until our children are grown. But applying wisdom does not eliminate our dreams—it makes them more attainable.

Principle 4: Dreams don’t come true on their own!

There is no way that our land developer in Ecclesiastes could have accomplished his dream without hard work. Pursuing our dreams takes time and effort—lots of it! He worked hard to develop his farm. Consider his neighbor down the street. That poor guy’s roof is about to fall in because he is too lazy to fix it. You see, roofs don’t fix themselves, farms don’t develop themselves, and dreams don’t accomplish themselves. We have to do that!

For years, I wanted to write music. Of course, I have limited musical skills, but God has given me skills with language. So over the years, I began to write song lyrics (mostly Christian with some country thrown in on the side). The thing is, I would never show them to anyone, not even my wife. I was afraid of ridicule, so I kept this dream hidden away. One day, God helped me to understand that even if I was the only one who benefited from this pursuit, it was enough. I was free! I took the risk of sharing my lyrics, began to collaborate with other musicians, and we now use several of my songs in worship at our church. Now, I write with confidence and enjoyment, because writing songs is not just a dream anymore—it’s a reality.

So, let me encourage you to revisit your dreams. Pull them out, dust them off, and look at them again. You’ve wanted to write that novel, or learn to play the saxophone, or go back to school, or get your pilot’s license, or start your own business, or develop your own farm.

Spend some time praying about it, and ask God for wisdom about how and when to pursue it. Maybe, you need to begin today; maybe next week; maybe next year. But just the thought of chasing your dream will invigorate your life. So, join me and chase your dreams!