I met a friend for coffee a few weeks back.
We were in downtown Fort Collins, Colorado. As we walked toward the coffee shop
we noticed a person, wrapped in a blanket not moving at all. He was in the
middle of the sidewalk while people walked by and stepped over him. It looked
like he might not be alive. My friend knelt down and asked the person if he was
ok? He was startled and awoke abruptly.
After my
heart rate returned to its normal pace, God spoke to my heart: “Sometimes
things are dead, and sometimes they just need to be woken up.”
I pondered
those words for the rest of the day. A friend called who was struggling in her
marriage — in a very bad way. The sort of way that leaves you wondering if it
will survive. I told her the story.
Sometimes things are dead, and sometimes they
just need to be woken up.
Sometimes a marriage is dead, and sometimes it just
needs to be woken up.
Sometimes a friendship is dead, and sometimes it just
needs to be woken up.
Sometimes a dream is dead, and
sometimes it just needs to be woken up.
Our
belief about where our dreams and desires come from will dramatically impact
what we actually do with them. If we see them as a selfish or negative thing,
we’re always going to feel guilty and torn. If we see them as a gift given to
us from God, part of our divine purpose, we’ll feel freedom, perhaps even a
responsibility to put them to good use.
I believe we’ve all been put here
with a specific purpose in mind. And the way we discover what that purpose is,
is by following what we enjoy and the things that come naturally to us. We
discover our purpose by pursuing our dreams and desires.
And of course, we need to be responsible and smart about it. But
we’re going to stay frustrated and unfilled in life unless we’re doing
something to work towards those dreams that have been placed within us.
For my friend struggling in her
marriage, for my friend who cries
for her adult son who walked away from God and for
my friend who wants a different career. Wake the dream up. Rekindle relationships.
Guide people back to God. And pursue new dreams and ventures.
Don’t assume the dream is dead. Sometimes it
just needs to be woken up.