It Is ‘OK’ To Dream Again

Dreams are ‘a succession of images, thoughts or emotions passing through the mind during sleep’. I want to speak about the dreams that are connected to our desires which have either been able to make it to the surface or have been locked away due to circumstances and wounded emotions.

Dreams when made reality awake the soul of a man. You begin to become alive on the inside. This could be the start of your business, your dream job or career, starting your own family, getting married, believing that there is a special person for you to grow old with for the rest of your life, owning your own house or car; the list continues. We are meant to live out those things which bring us to life.

Dreams dependent upon the context of our desires are meant to be lived out. Not all our desires are good or beneficial to us. They can sometimes be a warped thought, negative emotion from experiences or poor judgments. We dream of many things and these different dreams are categorised. When we dream not all of what we see should be birthed, that’s why context, understanding and wisdom are always needed.

One of the biggest enemies of dreams are FAILURE. Failure  produces disappointment, which zaps our emotions and sends us into a mental spiral. Before you know it fear, depression, anxiety and stress start knocking on your door asking to be let in and if enough disappointment is in you, you will let them in.

Unsuccessful attempts or non-performance due to not even trying can turn our dreams into nightmares. That which once captivated our hearts and brought life now bring pain and death. The failure to accomplish a dream can leave a person deprived. We lose our joy and life begins to leak from within us.

Sometimes we can find strength to pick the dream up and start again. We start revving the engine and as we are about to pull off another hit befalls our dream. Just like a boxer in the ring when caught off guard, we are hit by an unforeseen blow. This blow strikes at our very core. After finding the faith and courage to try and accomplish what first did not work out, takes its toll more than it did the first time. Even after this more knocks can come to the same dream, desire.

After a certain amount of knock backs, just like the boxer in the ring, we get to the point of K.O. We struggle to uplift the dream. We become fearful of trying again. This time we may have no fight left. The battle to just pick up this dream again is too much for us, never mind actually giving life to it.

Failure is a very common human problem. It hits our mind through our circumstances and once it takes root it begins to pick away at our hearts.

Some people allow failure to strengthen them and they find the energy to keep pursuing their dreams. Whatever comes against them does not seem to phase them, it only makes them stronger. Unfortunately many of us do not and we give them up.

It is hard to break through to a failed mindset as the impact of the unmet desires can crush a person’s heart. When you believe and pursue something with all you have and it does not work out, it is a painful experience of which we do not always want to re-live. Dreams only seem make believe as any attempt to achieve them becomes thwarted. It is the same for if we do not even let our dreams take flight due to other people, situations or even our own unbelief.

An antidote for failure is HOPE.

When your dreams have been met with nothing but opposition then it can be hard to dream again. To believe and step out again can be very challenging. Today choose to re-question your thoughts of failure.

Close your eyes and dare to dream again. Dare to believe again. Find the strength to give your dream another go. Don’t let fantasy steal your reality if you know it is achievable.

Let the right relationships fuel you with encouragement and support. Let the Internet be your oyster and find all the help and advice you can. Refuse to give up on your dream.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life. Proverbs 13:12

 

God Is A lot Like Forrest Gump

This is not really a blog post per say like my others but really just a thought for the day. This thought came to my mind suddenly and I wish to share it with you. Before everyone starts wondering where I am going with comparing God to Forrest Gump just give me a moment and let me show you what I mean.

This film is about a good hearted but slow man, Forrest Gump, who sits on a bench and shares his life story in which he has seemed to have embarked upon, being personally involved with most major events in history during the last half of the 20th Century.

Revelations 3:20

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. (English Standard Version)

The above scripture simply implies that God is waiting to come into a persons life, he is waiting for them to open up their heart and life to him so he can come in and be with that person. The seat next to Forrest Gump was always empty and once filled he shared his life with them, a lot like God does when he is invited into someone’s life. When we meet with God it is like no other encounter or communication that we have ever had or experienced before. He graciously shares all with us. Everything about himself, his Word (the Bible) and life itself. We become enlightened and gain understanding of things that we never knew before, we start life again as if we have just taken our first breath of life again.

God is a lot like Forrest Gump because he is always there, waiting for us; he never leaves. God is not mentally or physically like Forrest Gump and does not have the exact same stories but their characteristics are the same. Forrest Gump never leaves the bench until his story is finished, he keeps speaking regardless of who is sitting on the bench. God is the same; waiting for us to come to him so he can share his story with us and ours with him, no matter who we are (Acts 10:34-35). He wants to share every little detail and build an intimate eternal relationship with us individually.

Psalm 91: 14-16

Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him. I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. He will call on me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.

John 3:16

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his unique Son so that everyone who believes in him might not be lost but have eternal life. (International Standard Version).

It is great to hear others testimonies and personal experiences with God. It is great to hear people tell you about Jesus and what he did for all humanity (died on the cross to take away all the sins- wrong doings- of humanity and resurrected on the third day. Allowing man to return back to God by relationship through Jesus). God clearly loves us and always has regardless of what we have done, do and will do. We can not just hear about God from others, we must know him for ourselves. We must have our own personal revelation of what he did for us and who he is to us. The best part of this is that he wants to share himself with us. He wants to tell us about himself, he wants to tell us his story.

Man (universal context) disappoints and lets each other down. God is the opposite, he is always there because that is who he is, it is his nature; character.

Joshua 1:5

There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. (King James Version)

Sometimes we all need to be reminded that God is not like man and that he never leaves us. Our situations and the world around us may make us feel like God is nowhere to be seen but just like Forrest Gump never stops sharing his story, neither does God; his arms are wide open.

Luke 15:11-32

Then he said, there was once a man who had two sons. The younger said to his father, ‘Father, I want right now what’s coming to me.’So the father divided the property between them. It wasn’t long before the younger son packed his bags and left for a distant country. There, undisciplined and dissipated, he wasted everything he had. After he had gone through all his money, there was a bad famine all through that country and he began to hurt. He signed on with a citizen there who assigned him to his fields to slop the pigs. He was so hungry he would have eaten the corncobs in the pig slop, but no one would give him any. That brought him to his senses. He said, ‘All those farmhands working for my father sit down to three meals a day, and here I am starving to death. I’m going back to my father. I’ll say to him, Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son. Take me on as a hired hand.’ He got right up and went home to his father. When he was still a long way off, his father saw him. His heart pounding, he ran out, embraced him, and kissed him. The son started his speech: ‘Father, I’ve sinned against God, I’ve sinned before you; I don’t deserve to be called your son ever again. But the father wasn’t listening. He was calling to the servants, ‘Quick. Bring a clean set of clothes and dress him. Put the family ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Then get a grain-fed heifer and roast it. We’re going to feast! We’re going to have a wonderful time! My son is here—given up for dead and now alive! Given up for lost and now found!’ And they began to have a wonderful time. All this time his older son was out in the field. When the day’s work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, ‘Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound. The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t listen. The son said, ‘Look how many years I’ve stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!. His father said, ‘Son, you don’t understand. You’re with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he’s alive! He was lost, and he’s found!. (The Message Version).

Be encouraged and regardless of whether you know God or not that he is there, you just have to reach out or as in Forrest Gump; just sit on the bench and there he will be waiting for you and ready to share his story with you through his son Jesus.