When I was a young kid I dreamed of being an NFL quarterback. I used to pretend I was Dan Marino leading the Miami Dolphins to a last second victory over my brother’s favorite team – the Pittsburg Steelers. As I grew older, I realized that it wasn’t going to come true. I was too short, too slow, not athletic enough, and did not have a strong enough arm to make it to the NFL. So, like most young boys across America, I had to ditch that dream and come back to reality. Can you remember the dreams you had as a kid? Was it to be a professional athlete? Was it to be a movie star? An astronaut landing on the moon? We dreamt big dreams as kids. But how many of us continued to dream as we grew older? Are you a dreamer now? Or have you given up? And if so, why?
It takes a lot of hard work and discipline to make your dreams come true. It means doing the little things the right way over and over. It means being accountable to yourself and others day after day. It means being open to advice and coaching from wise people. And advice is not always welcome, and those that need it most seem to always like it the least. So what stands in our way? It is usually us. We are our own worst enemy. We stop dreaming. We don’t want to discipline ourselves and do the hard work it takes. We quit learning and growing. We get complacent with what we have and don’t want to risk losing it for something greater.
An 18th century British Statesman, Philip Stanhope, wrote this in a letter to his son in 1746, “Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well”. So let’s be disciplined enough to do things well in our lives – whatever that may be. We should never stop dreaming, never stop learning, and never stop seeking wisdom and counsel.
Proverbs 13:19a ~ It is pleasant to see dreams come true.
“Dear Lord and Heavenly Father, help us be disciplined people as we pursue your dreams for our lives. It’s in the name of Jesus I pray, Amen.”