Dr. Randy Carlson
In the last blog post we talked about why it’s important to find a dream worth pursuing. These are the God-given dreams that fill the restlessness inside us. So how do we find those worthwhile dreams, the ones that point people to Christ and satisfy the longing in our hearts? How does God get ahold of our hearts? Here are ten ways God gets our attention.
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1. Crisis – God can use turmoil in our lives to move us from just doing stuff to living His dream. Sometimes that looks like a major health crisis or divorce or losing a child. These things will change our lives. And they provide an opportunity to stop, fast, pray and consider what God is doing in the situation.
2. A Need – Sometimes God uses a need around us to help us find our dreams. What are the needs in our communities? In our world? In our families? Seeing those needs as opportunities may summon dreams we never imagined.
3. Training – Jesus spent three and a half years training His disciples before sending them into the world. God prepares us before sending us, so we can consider how He’s training us now.
4. A Burning Bush – In the book of Exodus, Moses was taking care of sheep when he saw a literal burning bush. “And Moses said, ‘I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned’” (Exodus 3:3 ESV). If he had not paid attention to that burning bush, I don’t think God would have talked to him. In America we can be so busy, and God will shock us sometimes to get our full attention.
5. Family Legacy – On his deathbed King David charged his son Solomon with the throne and the kingdom. A family legacy can be a heavy responsibility, and no one should have a call based on someone else’s. But sometimes God uses family to open our eyes to bigger dreams.
6. Personal Relationships – This can be a tricky one because if the relationship goes south, do does the dream. We should do everything we can to make sure the dream is really God’s intention for each of us.
7. Causes – It can be easy to be swept up into causes, but these come and go. If we’re going to have a dream worth following, it has to be rooted in more than a cause. But if a cause tugs at our hearts, we should consider how God would have us engage with it.
8. Other People’s Actions – Joseph in the Old Testament was treated terribly, thrown in a pit, sold into slavery and imprisoned. But the actions of others opened the door for him to save an entire nation. We’ve all been mistreated. Lost jobs. Left behind. Passed over. It’s not what happens to us. It’s what happens in us that makes the difference.
9. Influence – Scripture reminds us that, “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required” (Luke 12:48 ESV). God allows us to have influence, and if we’re not using it to bring people to Christ, we’ve missed the dream.
10. A Simple Call – This is a term that’s often used in the Christian community. For Matthew in the New Testament it was simply Jesus saying “follow me.” Peter was in a fishing boat when he was called. We can listen to what God is asking us to do and follow that call on our lives.
You and I have a responsibility to make sure whatever dream we’ve developed is from God. Ultimately if we’re not pointing people to Christ, we’ve failed. When we have an eternal, spiritual perspective, our lives will be changed along with those around us.
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