You Have the Freedom to Live Your Dream

It is still early hours in the morning. Yet, you are wide awake already although the sun is not even out yet. You’re up and about. You are getting ready for the new day ahead of you. You are excited and can’t wait to start your day.

You didn’t get woken up by an irritating alarm-clock either. Alarm-clock? What is an alarm-clock? You probably don’t even know how to set an alarm clock. It’s just not part of your routine. You go to bed at night when you feel tired and you know you are done for the day. Every morning you wake up by yourself because you are well rested and looking forward to the new day.

Your day has been planned in advance and you know exactly what you need to do for the day and what need to be accomplished. You know you will meet some challenges and obstacles, but it doesn’t concern you. You still need to meet the challenge that can stop you in your tracks. Victory is guaranteed and you’ve proven it time and time again. There is nothing that can stop you.

Some problems might be more challenging than others and it may take longer to overcome them, but victory is yours every time. You know this because 1 John 4:4 (NIV) says “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world“, and 1 John 5:4 (NIV) says “for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”

Where others give up and see it as failure, you look it straight in the eye and see it for what it is – a challenge. When others get stressed about the problem, you see it as a stepping stone to find a solution and make the world a better place, manifesting the victory once again. The bigger the problem – the bigger the victory.

Too Good To Be True

When reading the scenario above, you probably think it’s too good to be true. I mean…..when we think something is too good to be true, it normally is, isn’t it?

Normally when we read a description of a typical morning or even daily routine, it’s all about rushing around. It’s about not having enough hours in the day and all the deadlines that have to be met. It’s all about stress, not having time for yourself, not even to mention having time for the family. And don’t forget, then you still need to deal with the boss too.

It’s just too good to be true. Or is it? On whose terms is the above scenario too good to be true? The world might be telling you to be realistic and that it’s too good to be true. But if God tells you that you are an overcomer and that through Him who gives you strength, you can do all these things, who are you going to believe?

Maybe we’ve all been conditioned by modern society to believe that we are doomed to ‘slavery and bondage’.

What Were You Created For?

Have you ever read the scripture in the Bible where Adam woke up to a screaming alarm-clock? Did you read how he had to shout at the kids to get them ready for school on time? Then he had to impatiently wait for Eve to get ready before they could rush off to work and perform their duties assigned to them. I mean…..having dominion over the earth is no small task. Have you read that?

Don’t worry, neither have I. It’s not in the Bible. And that’s exactly my point. What is documented in the Bible is that Adam and Eve were blessed by God and given dominion over the earth. Man was placed in the garden to work it and take care of it (Genesis 2:15). But he wasn’t put there as a slave. Reading Genesis 2 will show you how God treated Adam, even giving Adam the opportunity to name the animals the way he wanted to.

God also then saw that it wasn’t good for Adam to be alone and that he needed help. Thus he created Eve. In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve gave everything away to the devil, they heard the sound of the Lord as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day. That was when they felt fear for the first time.

Up until this event, there is no mention of fear or stress. There was no rushing around to meet deadlines. They were used to the idea of even communicating with God, having no fear. But they messed up and they knew it.

What Is Your Life Like Today?

Am I saying that we can now just sit back and relax all day long? No, by no means do I say that. Genesis 2:15 (NIV) says man was put in the Garden of Eden “…to work it and take care of it.”

But from the time that Adam and Eve sinned, the earth became cursed and they had to toil.

Even though Jesus came to set us free from captivity, we still tend to allow the world to intimidate us and we remain in bondage, working ourselves to the ground just to survive.

How many of us today can honestly say that we are living our dream? How many of us can get up in the morning and look forward to the day ahead with excitement. Who of us are running their dream businesses or do the job that they were dreaming of as kids?

How many people are searching for their own identity today? I often hear people say how they don’t even have any dreams anymore. They have forgotten who they are. They can’t even remember what excites them. They hate going to work in the morning because they are getting abused in the workplace. They’ve lost the sparkle in their eyes. They have lost any hope of ever being free and living a happy, fulfilled life. They have accepted their fate, and think that this is all there is to life. They don’t see a way out. They are stuck in this vicious cycle; just trying to survive.

The Blessing Has Been Restored

We need to realize that we have been set free. The price has been paid. Jesus has given us authority over the works of the devil. We do not have to believe his lies. James 4:7 (NIV) says “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

That doesn’t mean we can sleep in late, and that we don’t have to do any work (Genesis 2:15). But we shouldn’t try to work (labor) in our own strength just for survival. Hebrews 4:9-11 (NIV) says “⁹ There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; ¹⁰ for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works,^[e] just as God did from his. ¹¹ Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.”

Zechariah 4:6 (NIV) says “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” We should not attempt to work (survive) in our own strength, but by the Spirit of the Lord.

Matthew 6:25-34 (NIV) says “²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life^[e]?

²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

To seek first the Kingdom of God (verse 33) means we need to seek his Kingdom and what is important to the Kingdom and study God’s way of doing things. As we are ambassadors of God’s Kingdom, we need to take care of Kingdom business the way God would do it. That can be done under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and it doesn’t have to be stressful.

It doesn’t mean we all have to become preachers either. God didn’t expect Adam and Eve to start preaching when He created them. There was no need for preachers then. God gave them dominion over the earth and placed them in the garden to “work it and take care of it”. Genesis 1:28 (NIV) says “God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

We don’t need to be intimidated by the world any longer. I believe that no man should be enslaved by another man. As Adam and Eve were blessed by God and told to subdue the earth, so are we.

Yes, today there is a desperate need for preachers, but the world cannot be subdued by preachers alone. We also need doctors, nurses, teachers, engineers, entrepreneurs, scientists, fire fighters, police officers, developers, artists and so the list goes on and on.

So, what were you dreaming about before you ended up in survival mode? Where do you think those dreams came from? Do you really think you just woke up one morning and had this bright idea that came from nowhere and it doesn’t mean anything? Who gives anybody else the right to tell you your dreams are mere fantasy?

That dream, that desire, that passion was placed in your heart by God for a purpose. It is a purpose that God needs to be fulfilled here on earth. That is what you were created for. So I challenge you; start dreaming again.

If you can’t even remember what your dreams were, try to recall your childhood. What impressed you? What did you dream about as a child? Start making notes. Then start thinking about your youth and recall those dreams until you start feeling that excitement again.

Then it is time to start praying and taking action….not by might, nor by power, but by His Spirit.

I highly recommend that you read this excellent article by Yvonne Wilson for some additional motivation to start dreaming again: 6 Simplistic Ways You Can Dare ‘To be’ and have Good Success.

Over To You Now

• Are you trapped in a job you hate?
• Are you looking forward to the day ahead, or are you going to bed at night in fear of tomorrow?
• Are you actively working towards your dreams, or have you forgotten your own identity?
• Do you have the guts to be uniquely you, or do you prefer to just fade away in the crowds?

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