HomeWord - February 25, 2013

Dare to Dream

This devotional was written by Jim Burns

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. —Philippians 4:13

I once heard it said, "I would rather attempt something great and fail than attempt nothing and succeed." What dream is God placing in your heart? Don't sit back and wait for someone else to make a difference when you can be that person. The world doesn't need more armchair quarterbacks; the world needs people like you to get in the arena and give it everything you can! It was President Theodore Roosevelt who said:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.*

Our Lord plants a dream in everyone's heart. Most often the dreams are mighty, life-changing dreams with long-term positive results. Take your dream, then take the words of Paul, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength," and make a difference in this world!

GOING DEEPER:

1. Write Philippians 4:13 on an index card and read it any time your dreams are being challenged.

2. What dream has God planted in your heart? What decisions in your life do you need to make in order to bring that dream to reality?

FURTHER READING:

2 Corinthians 12:9

*Ted W. Engstrom, The Pursuit of Excellence (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1982), p. 57.