ARE YOU LIVING YOUR DREAM – OR SOMEONE ELSE’S?

If faced with the question "what is your dream for your life" how would you answer? About a year ago this question was asked during a leadership programme that I was on. It sent me into a complete tailspin and was the catalyst for my depression to sink to an all time low! I realised that, in my late forties, not only did I not have any dreams for my life but that the few that I had in my youth had withered and died. After almost a year of soul-searching, fighting depression and clawing my way through each day, I have finally found the courage to tentatively start dreaming again.

As this subject is so close to my heart, I was thrilled when our pastor began a series of sermons on living God's dream for our lives. His one question raised an alarm bell and that is why I am using it as the title for this message.

Many people, women in particular, find their dreams being shelved or chucked out completely when they get married. I don't think that this is always a deliberate decision, rather it is a case of putting the needs of their spouse and children first.

Another similar situation is when a parent imposes their dreams on to their children. Pressure is put on little 'Johnny/Mary' to become an engineer or doctor, when all he/she wants to do is ……. (fill in the blanks if this applies to you.) In so many cases the parent who does this is someone who was unable to live out their own dreams and so tries to do so through their child.

To all those people out there who find themselves in this situation, I beg you to do something about it! God has put a dream into each of our hearts that He will use to fulfil His purposes. The dream that He has given us will be the one thing that will make our lives purposeful. Living out someone else's dream instead of your own is not a sacrifice that God wants us to make and is unhealthy in the long run as a time will come when bitterness and resentment will take up residence in our hearts.