What’s your excuse – part 3?

At some point in time we’ve all had a wild dream.
Instead of pursuing that dream to its realization, some
of us have allowed our circumstances to get in the
way of the dream.

Some of the circumstances that we have allowed to
get in the way of the dream have turned out to be
nothing but mere excuses – not always because
we’ve been lazy, but because someone else has
found themselves faced by the same predicament as
ours and, nevertheless, gone ahead to pursue their
dream to its realization.

We’ve never got to look or figure out another avenue to
our dreams. This is especially true when we look at
the excuse, “I don’t have the skill.”

It is true. Sometimes we do not posses the skills that
we require to pursue our dream and bring it to
realization. We have this big dream and all, but the
missing link is your ability to follow through with all or
some parts of the dream.

What, then, do you do?

Why not try one of the following?

1. Learn the skill
Just as you were taught how to read and write, you
can be taught how to do what you need to do to
realize your dream. No, this does not necessarily
mean you have to go back behind a desk again. (Yea!
Thank God for that.) Today, learning can also be done
in the comfort of your home and still be as effective as
going to school. You can, for example, do a course
on how to write a book through the internet. All you
need is the discipline to do it.

2. Let someone else to do it
This will be at a cost in most cases, of cause. If a
friend or a relative will not do the thing that you want
done for you for free or at a cost, I am sure you can
get someone else to do it at a cost. Yes, the cost of
getting someone else to do it may cost you an arm
and a leg, but that may be the only way forward if you
really want to see your dream come true.

One of the greatest dreamers of the twentieth century,
Walt Disney, once said, “If you can DREAM IT, you
can DO IT.” Don’t you think that it would be foolish of
us to limit our interpretation of this statement to “we’d
(personally) do it?” Don’t you see the sense in
employing the interpretation that “we could also get
others to do it for us?” If you choose the latter, you’ll
soon come to realize that you have LITTLE or NO
EXCUSE for failing to realize that BIG DREAM that
you have.

Be Inspired.

This is the third and last part of an exciting
series on the excuses that people make for
not dreaming or not pursuing their dreams.

What's Your Excuse - part two?

I know you’ve heard this before?

“I want to go on holiday in America but I don’t think I
can afford to.”

“I wanna be a rock star but I don’t know where I can get
the money to buy myself a guitar.”

“My parents can’t afford to send me to law school so I
will be a teacher, instead.”

Do you hear what all these voices are saying? Do you
see that they are all expressing the same
sentiments? They are all saying, “I do not have the
money/resources to pursue my dream. [If I had these
money/resources I would pursue my dream.]”

Many Christians do not pursue their dreams “because
I do not have the money/resources.”

THERE’S NO NEED TO WORRY
What if I told you that you do not need to worry about
the money/resources that you need in order to pursue
and accomplish your dream? Would you belief me?

Well, let’s turn to the scriptures. In 2 Peter 1:3, it
reads God has given us everything pertaining to life.
Do you know what this means?

Let’s look at the following questions. They will help us
understand this portion of scripture.

• What is life?
• What is the extent of God’s provision in our lives?
• When is God’s provision made available to us?

What is life?
“Life is more than food.” [Luke 12:23] You were not
created just to survive. Your life counts for more than
mere survival. You were born for a purpose [Jeremiah
1:5: Before you were born, I set you apart for my holy
purpose]. And you can only achieve this purpose
when you pursue your dream.

What is the extent of God’s provision in our lives?
“God has given us everything pertaining to life.” [2
Peter 1:3] Just as it is wrong to say that we are alive
just to survive from one day to the next, it is wrong to
limit God’s provision in our lives to be our daily needs.
Surely, it should extend to our purpose, our hopes and
desires and our dreams.

When is God’s provision made available to us?
“God has…” [note: present continuous tense] God’s
provision for your life has been made available to you
today. The same is true for tomorrow. Yes, even for
the day after tomorrow.

Why wait a moment longer? Go out there and begin to
work on your dream. God’s got you covered. He has
already made available to you everything that you
require in the pursuit of your dream.

Be Inspired.

This is the second part of an exciting series
on the excuses that people make for not
dreaming or not pursuing their dreams. This
series will continue over the coming weeks
and if you’re not on my mailing list but would
like to know all the other excuses, subscribe
for future issues of Inspiration Online at
dareme@mweb.co.zw. The good thing about
this subscription is that it need not be
permanent. You can choose to unsubscribe at any moment in the future. Be Inspired

What's Your Excuse?

Encouraging people to dream and to pursue their dreams has raised my awareness of people’s dream related phobias, one of which is that they do not see themselves being released to pursue their dream, that is, in view of their “present circumstance”.

“Present circumstance” for them ranges from having overprotective parents, working in a busy office, being a newly wed, right through to having to look after their families.

As you can see, for these people “present circumstance” is comprised of a ceiling of authority that prevents them from stepping up to the challenges posed by their dreams and a floor that prevents them from stepping down to make way for their dreams. These are usually both real and psychological. But, the bottom line is, either way it is merely an excuse that those who do not want to pursue a dream use to justify not doing so.

But, it’s not good enough. No excuse is! Even Nehemiah would tell you so. You see, Nehemiah was a Jewish captive in the land of Susa under the service of King Artaxerxes as a cupbearer at the time that he dreamt of rebuilding the fallen wall.

What an outrageous thought it was for him to think that he could be released from service to pursue his personal dream.

But, it did happen.

In the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was brought for him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had not been sad in his presence before; so the king asked me, "Why does your face look so sad when you are not ill? This can be nothing but sadness of heart." I was very much afraid, but I said to the king, "May the king live forever! Why should my face not look sad when the city where my fathers are buried lies in ruins, and its gates have been destroyed by fire?"

The king said to me, "What is it you want?"

Then I prayed to the God of heaven, and I answered the king, "If it pleases the king and if your servant has found favor in his sight, let him send me to the city in Judah where my fathers are buried so that I can rebuild it."

Then the king, with the queen sitting beside him, asked me, "How long will your journey take, and when will you get back?" It pleased the king to send me; so I set a time.
[Nehemiah 2:4-7]

Like some of us, Nehemiah had a ceiling that could have prevented them from stepping up to the challenges posed by his dream (he was a mere captive, a person under authority and without any authority of his own) and a floor that could have prevented him from stepping down to make way for their dream (he was the King’s cupbearer, a person who carried a very huge responsibility). But, this did not keep him from dreaming and actually pursuing his dream.

What is it that is keeping you from dreaming or pursuing your dream? Is it that you lack the authority that you require to pursue your dream? Or is it that the responsibilities that you carry seem not to allow you to pursue your dreams? Whatever it is, today you can choose to look on the bright side and believe that when the time comes for you to pursue your dream, God will ensure that you are granted the release that you require in order to do so.

This is the first part of an exciting series on the excuses that people make for not dreaming or not pursuing their dreams. This series will continue over the coming weeks and if you’re not on my mailing list but would like to know all the other excuses, subscribe for future issues of Inspiration Online at dareme@mweb.co.zw. The good thing about this subscription is that it need not be permanent. You can choose to unsubscribe at any moment in the future. Be Inspired.