Chapter 9: Good Dreams

“I want you to keep dreaming big, but to do so in line with God’s will. I want you to dream big by faith.”

How we measure success has been heavily influenced by how our culture measures success. Trip Lee uses the example of two athletes. We might consider a famous an athlete successful but the coach of a middle school team not as much. God doesn’t view work or success by those terms. His word says to work heartily (Colossians 3:23). So whether you are a CEO or a janitor, God’s desire would be that you would be faithful to your work. There are times when our work will not be seen or rewarded on this earth. Most of us work steadily in obscurity. But our reward will be in heaven.

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Unfortunately, some preachers have shared that if you work hard enough or obey God enough, the Lord will give you everything you ever dreamed of. But Proverbs 16:1 says, “The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord.”  As Trip says, “Not every dream is from God, and He3 doesn’t owe it to us to make any of them happen.” Furthermore, “At the cross, Jesus died for our glory-seeking and selfish ambition.” Jesus is the ultimate example of faithfulness. The God-Man knew he would die a sinner’s death and yet he faithful served until the bitter end.

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So the questions is; how do you measure success?

More questions: Do you struggle with judging your life by the success of others? Have you ever evaluated your dreams to determine whose glory you might be chasing?  And if you aren’t dreaming big, why not? How might you continue to pursue your dreams with the Lord in view? Are there things you are chasing that you might need to stop?