To Achieve My Dream, Give It Up

In Philippians 4:12-13 I read, “I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." (NLT)

I’ll never achieve my dream until I learn to give it up. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true! When it comes to my dream, surrendering it to Jesus is always the safest decision I’ll ever make.

What I’m learning is that God typically takes my dream through six different stages.

Stage 1: God gives me a dream.

Stage 2: I decide to go after the dream.

Stage 3: My dream is delayed.

Stage 4: My dream encounters difficulties.

Stage 5: My dream hits a dead end.

Stage 6: God delivers my dream.

During each of these stages, I continue to work on my dream. And at the same time, God is working on me.

More than anything else, God wants me to trust him. The apostle Paul says it like this: “I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:12-13 NLT).

The Bible says emphatically that I can do anything, as long as I do it with God’s help or, as Paul says, “through Christ, who gives me strength.” I’ll need much more than positive thinking as I pursue my God-given dreams. I’ll need the power of God.

Many people have read one motivational book after another and still haven’t made progress toward their dreams. That’s because we don’t need stronger motivation. We need God’s supernatural help.

If I’ve been trying to make my dreams set sail on my own power and getting nowhere, I’m the one powering it, the wind is dead.

So I need to surrender my dreams to God and let him give them the power to set sail.

In summary, I’ll never achieve my dream until I learn to give it up. When it comes to my dream, surrendering it to Jesus is always the safest decision. God typically takes my dream through six different stages. 1). God gives me a dream. 2). I then decide to go after the dream. 3). My dream is delayed. 4). My dream encounters difficulties. 5). My dream hits a dead end. 6). God delivers my dream. During each of these stages, I continue to work on my dream. And at the same time, God is working on me. God wants me to trust him. “The secret of living in every situation, with plenty or little, Is that I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength”. I can do anything, as long as I do it with God’s help. I’ll need much more than positive thinking. I’ll need the power of God. I also don’t need stronger motivation. What I need is God’s supernatural help. If I’ve been trying to make my dreams set sail on my own power and getting nowhere, I’m the one powering it, the wind is dead. I need to surrender my dreams to God and let him give them the power to set sail.

Paul was content because he could see life from God's point of view. He focused on what he was supposed to do, not what he felt he should have. Paul had his priorities straight, and he was grateful for everything God had given him. Often the desire for more or better possessions is really a longing to fill an empty place in a person's life. True contentment will lie in my perspective, priorities and source of power. The power I receive in union with Christ is sufficient to do his will and to face the challenges that arise from my commitment to doing it.