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.