Chase your dreams! Pursue! Strive! Go for it!
Those are usually the messages we see around us. And for a good reason. Many people can become paralyzed by their fear, and that then leads to stagnation and immobility.
However, there are not many messages about the courage of laying down your dream. Yet, that is also what God requires of us at times.
Changing Your Dream
Just over a year ago, I felt God calling me to start this blog. To use it as a way to share my mental health experience from a Christian perspective.
I feel confident that God prompted that dream. Unfortunately, we can skew God’s desires for us.
He didn’t tell me to overload my schedule. To become rigid with the number of posts I write in a week or the time I spent promoting on social media. God didn’t tell me to overstretch myself and put the growth of the blog before Him, my family, or my career.
We can take what God prompts us to do and then morph it into our interests and lose sight of His purpose. We can turn God’s heavenly design into our selfish ones.
[ctt template=”9″ link=”Uf1h8″ via=”yes” ]We can take what God prompts us to do and then morph it into our interests and lose sight of His purpose. We can turn God’s heavenly design into our selfish ones. [/ctt]
My Dream
I had post-it notes on my bedroom bulletin board of book ideas, Bible study projects, courses, and products. Each day when I would see them, they would drive me to continue so that I could further my goals.
To increase my traffic. Become known. Be more relevant…be enough.
Wait, what?
I hadn’t realized that my driving focus had shifted. That something that had turned out to be God-honoring and glorifying had lost its God-driven purpose. And not that any of the content written wasn’t still godly, but rather the motivation wasn’t pure.
Not Yet…
That is the message I have heard for a while when I have been listening. Along with “pull back,” “slow down,” and “rest.”
Did you notice I wrote, when I have been listening?
Because I have heard the messages for a while and I wanted to dismiss them because I wanted to fight against them. To do what I wanted to do.
We can become so caught up in our desires that we can rationalize our actions and behaviors. I tried to justify my busy schedule by saying I was doing God’s work.
God Will Never Ask You To Do Something That Isn’t Honoring To Him
Writing a Christian blog is God-honoring, right? Just like volunteering or engaging in a ministry.
Again, that’s not where I went wrong. I allowed the blog to lead me to be stressed because of the deadlines I put on myself. To compromise my time with my family. And to be irritable when someone messed with my schedule.
God won’t ask you to do that. When what you are doing hinders other aspects of your Christian walk you can be assured you are no longer following God’s dream for you.
[ctt template=”9″ link=”j_6NI” via=”yes” ]When what you are doing hinders other aspects of your Christian walk you can be assured you are no longer following God’s dream for you. [/ctt]
I can do all this through him who gives me strength. Philippians 4:13 (NIV)
At first, I used this verse to justify my schedule. “I just need to pray more. To ask God to help me push through.”
But then I was prompted to look at more. I needed to back up a couple of verses.
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. Philippians 4:11-12 (NIV)
When the timing isn’t yours
God is telling me to be content. That I don’t have to keep striving at my dream. I am enough as I am.
For me, it’s not a matter of working harder. I can work like a pack mule. My struggle is recognizing my worth in doing less. In understanding that slowing down doesn’t mean I’m a failure.
My need for God’s strength is to help me lay the dream aside. Not forever. Just not right now because my timing isn’t God’s timing.
And I wonder if that is where you need God’s strength, too. To believe that you are more than your works. That you can trust God’s timing for you is always perfect.
Not Goodbye
This post isn’t a way for me to say “Goodbye” but rather “I’ll see you around.”
The blog was God’s prompting for me after all. The pursuit of it will just be much more casual from here on out until I hear otherwise.
I pray this post prompts you to listen to God’s message for you. You don’t have to keep striving just for the sake of striving.
God bless!
Melissa
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Thank you for this. It really resonated with me. It can be so easy to get sucked into what we think blogging needs to be versus letting God use the gifts He gave us through us His way. This was definitely a breath of fresh air! Best wishes as you listen to His leading!
Oh I’m so glad you found the post convicting! Being in the mental health field you would think I’d be able to recognize these lies a little faster, wouldn’t you?! 🙂
“God is telling me to be content. That I don’t have to keep striving at my dream. I am enough as I am.”
What a great word! We must focus – God’s timing not our own striving. Blessings!
Thank you, Susan!
😮 how this post resonated with me. Just this past week I was forced to slow down and I hated it. Now, especially because of this post, I realized that I had replaced my God with my blog thank you for sharing
I’m so thankful that the words here were able to bring you greater clarity. Praise God for His ability to use us to support each other. God bless!
“I allowed the blog to lead me to be stressed because of the deadlines I put on myself.” All the bloggers I know, including myself, have fallen into this trap. May God refresh us to continue writing for His glory, on His time table!
Thank you, Susan! That is my prayer as well – to stay focused on Him and give Him all of the control. God bless!
Melissa, your posts always seem to hit a timely chord with me! I feel like I am never able to do enough to make my dream come true, and I am striving in vain. I am constantly being reminded of the fig tree, no fruit in 3 years? Time to cut it down! But that seems so much like just giving up. I need to do more praying for guidance with this one. Thanks for your post.
Janice, your response reminds me of Psalm 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman keeps awake in vain. – It is so important for us to keep our gaze focused upward so that we are not toiling in vain. I pray you hear God’s guidance and then the courage to follow through on His desires. God bless!
You are so wise to be listening and responsive to the voice of the Spirit!
Thank you, Michele! It wasn’t an immediate obedience but I’m at peace.
I can relate to this! God puts a desire and dream in our heart and we want to go all out, but many times we allow it to take over.
If He put the dream there, He will take us there in His timing.
So glad you’re being faithful!
Thank you, Julie! Yes, I have quite the tendency to go all out. Which isn’t always a bad thing, but that can lead to the detriment of my priorities if I’m not careful. Thankfully, God knows that’s my tendency, too and He’s faithful in reminding me! God bless!
Thanks for this encouragement. Pursuing our dreams definitely isn’t an easy thing but if God has called us to it He’ll help us through it.
Yes, the important component is making sure that we are listening to His promptings on how to pursue the dream and ensure we aren’t trying to take over control. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. God bless!
Thank you for sharing your insight. So often we do not see slowing down as being productive. Yet often it is the most productive action we can take. Thank you for the reminder today.
So true, Joanne! We have this false understanding that productive equates to more. I’m glad that the post was a positive reminder for you. God bless!
Girl! This is so timely. Such a good, needed, encouraging word. Thank you.
I’m so glad you found the post beneficial, Amy! God bless you and all that you have going on in your life. Allow God to lead and you will experience the joy he has laid out for you!
Thanks for writing this up so honestly. I can completely relate to this and this describes a lot of my own journey over the past year since I started my blog. It definitely can be hard going and a struggle to keep it up. But this also applies to many other things I’ve started where I’ve felt God has originally led me into, and then possibly the dream has shifted. Sometimes I think that it’s not that a dream necessarily has to die but that it has to spend more time underground after it has been planted in order to take deeper roots rather than trying to birth too quickly. We need to spend that time resting in God while he waters and brings about growth.
“Sometimes I think that it’s not that a dream necessarily has to die but that it has to spend more time underground after it has been planted in order to take deeper roots rather than trying to birth too quickly. ” – Such a beautiful thought and I believe so true! God gives us a taste of what He has planned for us and we are so quick to want to jump to it, but sometimes we’re not ready. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your insights. God bless!
Thank you so much for this!! You have no idea how much this resonated with me!!! This absolutely describes my blogging journey!!!
I’m so glad you found the post beneficial, Diane! It can be so easy to overstretch ourselves and start doing “more” so that we can feel good about doing “more”. It’s a nasty trap. Thank you for stopping by Diane. God bless!
Thank you so much for this helpful and insightful post. I definitely relate. Blogging has been such a rollercoaster for me.
Thank you, Christine! I hadn’t anticipated it was going to be such a roller coaster, but it has also provided wonderful opportunity to my own personal and spiritual growth. I pray you are able to find the same true for you, as well. God bless!
This is a beautiful post and I can so relate to it. Thank you for sharing your story and inviting us in!
Thank you so much for your kind words, Amy. It’s always amazing how we can feel like we are the only ones experiencing something until we allow ourselves to be vulnerable and then realize how many others have or are going through the same situation. That is part of Satan’s scheme – to lie to us and make us feel isolated. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your encouragement. God bless!
I love your quote about morphing what God prompts us to do into our own. That’s an easy thing for an organizer and a planner to do. There’s a lot of wisdom in this post and I’m going to ponder it and examine myself. Thanks!
Thank you, Andrea. I’m glad that the post is prompting you to self-reflection. I pray God is able to use this message to assure your path. God bless!
Melissa, thank you so much for sharing this! I completely understand and have had to scale back my blog work as well. Rest assured your writing will encourage and inform many hearts according to God’s will. You are brave!
Thank you for your kind words and your encouragement! It’s hard to scale back on things we enjoy but it’s so important to ensure our priorities aren’t getting messed up along the way! Thank you for stopping by, Laura. God bless!
I’ve had to recalibrate a number of times since I started my blog. It is so easy to make it too much about promoting and growing our numbers and lose sight of what’s really important. Thanks for the reminder that it’s a common struggle. If it is causing us to neglect other priorities, we need to refocus, don’t we! I needed this reminder today!
Thank you, Donna! I think it’s an encouragement for all of us to know and understand that we’re not the only ones who confuse God’s path. Re-calibration means self-reflection, insight and growth are also taking place. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your experience. God bless!
This: “My struggle is recognizing my worth in doing less.” Melissa, your wonderful post reminds me of a Bible study called Breathe by Priscilla Shirer. I highly recommend it for all bloggers! It has helped me tremendously.
Thank you for the recommendation Alyson! I enjoy the additional use of bible studies and devotionals along with my bible reading and prayer journaling. God bless!
You’d think being so knowledgeable on Scripture we would recognize things. I enjoy blogging so much I started four but had to cut back, I just had so much to share but I needed my rest and God knew it, I hope you continue, I post daily but not everyone does, God bless and give you the right decisions.
Thank you for your encouragement, Rebecca. Yes, I enjoy blogging tremendously but I’m realizing with being a full-time therapist, a wife, and mommy to two elementary aged kids, I’m needing to pull back. Thank you for stopping by and sharing your experiences. God bless!
WHEW!!! This is sooooooooo good!!! I am right there with you, Melissa!!! Just like you, I felt the Lord asking me to start blogging….and before I knew it….I found myself doing exactly what you described. Stressed over numbers, growing a platform, social media, etc. So…..for the whole summer….I didn’t blog. I still thought about it, wrote, read, and prayed…..but I didn’t publish one post. Of course, at first, I worried about numbers….but once I put it completely aside….it was freeing! I found new joy in writing a blog post! Taking the summer off truly gave me a new perspective. The truth is….if I am writing out of my obedience to God….then even if only ONE person reads it….that’s ok. Today was my first post published since May…and I feel like your post was just God giving me another little reminder so I don’t get sucked back into that place of comparison and stress!!! THANK YOU!!!
Oh Emily! I’m so glad you found the post beneficial and a good reminder to allow God to do the leading. It was hard for me to be willing to pull back but even the past couple weeks where I haven’t been stressed about deadlines and social media promotion it’s been so nice. I’m sending prayers your way that you are able to discern God’s desire for your path! God bless!
I appreciate the wisdom you share here. Too often we get caught up in “God’s” dream when maybe it’s just “our” dream. Thanks for your honesty here and your encouragement for us to take a step back and assess our own lives as well.
Thank you, Lisa!
I enjoy your wisdom not only in the area of mental health but in your willingness to listen to God’s leading. It is so easy to be sucked into the pull of social media and creating more content because you see others doing the same. But if we truly listen to God, He may have other plans. I respect your decision and will be praying for you as you continue to let God lead.
Thank you, Mary! It is so easy to be sucked in and feeling like we’re supposed to be doing “more”. I appreciate the prayers! God bless!
Oh, sweet friend! How you have blessed me the last year! I think this post resonates with each of us bloggers/writers in ministry. It’s so easy to take what God calls us to and turn it into ours. Our thing to strive for, stress over, and get overwhelmed by! I understand where you are and I applaud you in following His call. I will miss your words, though. Make sure you link up when you do post so I don’t miss anything ♥ I have learned to take the breaks I need and not fret while I do so. I learned the hard way, though. I hit a great big wall of burnout last fall and it took two strategic breaks to get myself back to feeling like me!
Sending you big hugs and praying over your time to seek the will of God.
Blessings and smiles,
Lori
Thank you, Lori, for your kind words of encouragement and support! I’m looking forward to enjoying my family more and seeking, learning, and listening to God better during His time frame.
I promise I’ll keep linking up! 🙂
Melissa