In Daniel chapter 2, King Nebuchadnezzer woke up one morning knowing he had a dream. It was a troubling dream – maybe a nightmare. The problem was that he couldn’t remember what it was. Maybe you can identify with his situation.
He was determined to find out what the dream meant, so he called the various magicians, astrologers, and sorcerers to come. He demanded that they figure out what the dream was and then tell him what it meant. They, of course, felt that this is a setup – how could they possibly know what the dream was?
The prophet, Daniel, was able to go to the king and, with God’s help, deliver what the king required. He recounted the dream. Then he told him what the dream meant.
In life, we need to know what our dream is. As kids, we have great dreams of what we want to be or what we want to do with our lives. Somehow, as we grow up, we lose touch with those dreams. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. The bad part is that it doesn’t get replaced by a new dream.
Jon Acuff’s book “Quitter” speaks about making the change from your day job to your dream job. I told my wife I got the book, and it scared her a little. She felt better after I told her that his first piece of advice was to not quit…yet. His book also helps to clarify and understand what you dream really is.
Dan Miller also speaks about this a lot. It seems that his life is centered around helping people find their dream and work to transition into it.
We need to look at our life and really see what our dream is. Only then can we take that dream and try to do something with it. Without it, we wake up feeling that something is going on, but we can’t quite figure it out.
Here are three simple tips I’ve gleaned about finding your dream:
1. What is it that gets you excited?
2. What is something in your past that you were good at and enjoyed doing?
3. What do you look forward to doing now that you have talent in?
Next post: “You’re Living in a Dream World“
I like what you have to say here Joshua. And totally: not knowing what your dream is, AND not living it, will leave you with that waking feeling that ‘something is happening, but you’re not sure what.’ I like that point.
And I think dreams, like vision, leaks. You need to keep revisiting them, repeating them, and making/taking action steps to make them become reality.
I must admit that I have some serious unfulfilled dreams in my life. A dream that I started following when I was 20, which took me from my comfy life in Canada, to where I live now: Mexico City. And then the dream broke down. Not because the dream was bad. Nope. The guy having it and living it got side tracked. Life happened. I got married. Have 2 kids. Started my own business and am still running it….all awesome and necessary things, and all afore mentioned things are a part of God’s plan for me….but that dream that started it all??
It still waits to be fully engaged and brought to reality….hmmmm. Pondering this. Thank you Joshua.
@Aaron Nelson I understand completely! Our dreams can be pushed behind other things as “life happens.” I never really had well-defined dreams growing up (even into my 20’s). But I have started to look back and I can see different pieces scattered throughout. I’m seeing that there have been some patterns, and some bridges to new areas. I love seeing my life more as a whole than days that are scattered. Following God, I know that all those pieces are vital to what He has in store!
Isn’t interesting that Daniel and Joesph both faced similar situations with dreams? There are number of times that I have wondered if I am doing what God has intended for me, or perhaps I should return to what I dreamed about as a kid, before I allowed other people and “life” to get in the way.
@kevinsview It certainly takes a lot of prayer to get and stay on the right path. One thing I have noticed is that God does use many things in our past to shape us for the future. The things in our past may not be His doing (i.e. we mess up and/or go our own way), but He is able to use us when we commit our life to Him.
This is a great example of how we need to pay attention to our dreams in life!