It is true. If we would truly let God's will take over, we would be happier than we could ever imagine and do greater things than we could ever imagine. Someone named Emmet Fox once said (or possibly wrote)(emphasis mine):
"The most secret, sacred wish that lies deep down at the bottom of your heart, the wonderful thing that you hardly dare to look at, or think about - the thing that you would rather die than have anyone else know of, because it seems so far beyond anything that you are, or have at the present time, that you fear you would be cruelly ridiculed if the mere thought of it were known - that is just the very thing that God is wishing you to do or be for him. And the birth of that marvelous wish in your soul - the dawning of that secret dream - was the voice of God Himself telling you to arise and come up higher because He had need of you."
I am sure we all have those things deep down inside of us, that we want to achieve but we are not sure if we ever will. Heck, for me, this page is one of those things... I always wanted to do something like this, but was scared that people would think it was dumb, or not like it, or nobody would read it, etc. Finally I decided that if I really wanted to do it and really felt called to do it, then all of that other stuff didn't matter!
Such is everything in life, all of our hopes and dreams. We might be met with failure (almost certainly), but that shouldn't deter us. If we are following our dreams and God's plan, then the pursuit will always lead us higher and closer to God and closer to what we were created to be.
I agree completely (as I'm sure I will with most of your posts). I'm reminded of a quote from the book "Wild at Heart" which the author actually quotes from someone else, so I'll paraprhase it the best I can. It's something like, 'Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.' Like you said, God puts desires and dreams down in our hearts for a reason and we are not to ignore them. Following these dreams will help mold us into the people that God desires us to be.
ReplyDeleteThat is a great quote... and I can verify that your paraphrasing is right on :)
ReplyDeleteThat is so true... the thing that a lot of people don't seem to understand and I am trying to live out is this... many people think they don't have time for their dreams, likely because they feel like they have to make money and have a job.
Well, having a job to make money and pay the bills is obviously a necessary part of life... it would be great if everyone got a job that utilized their dreams entirely, but sadly that is generally not the case. However, just because your day job isn't your greatest passion does not mean you can't live those passions out. For example, I love writing, but I can't quite make a living out of it... does that mean I should stop following that passion? Not at all... just means that we might need to sacrifice a bit to live it out! It's worth it though.