What's Holding You Back -- Chapter 2

The first paragraph of the chapter is as follows: “To dream, to really live, means overcoming our own excuses and the barriers that confront us as we move toward our destiny. Some people get stuck on the way because of events in their past or obstacles that seem immovable. Other people are afraid of following their dream, so they employ avoidance techniques, busy schedules, and willful ignorance to try to drown out the voice in their heart that whispers, ‘You should be following your dream.”

1. You are defined by your past. “A person without a future will always return to his or her past…..Peter’s dream was crushed when Jesus was crucified, so he left town and went back to his old occupation: fishing.” But here’s the kicker: “When you are drawn to your past, it is because your dream has stopped drawing you to your future. Only a dream can give you the booster rockets to escape the gravity of the past. ONLY A DREAM gives you daily motivation to go forward, to keep your priorities straight, to help you distinguish between what belongs in the past and what belongs in the future.”

2. Unfinished business. If you have a nagging sense of unfinished business, it’s because you have not reached your full capacity by achieving your dream given to you by God. “Perhaps in the depths of your soul you know that you are neglecting your dream, missing your moment, putting your purpose in a drawer for a later time that never comes. The Bible identifies this as ‘double-mindedness’ and says it will make you unstable in all your ways (James 1:8). You won’t really accomplish anything lasting.” You may look stable, but are you really who you ought to be? If you’re not, there’s an imbalance there because you’re fighting who you are and who you ought to be.

3. Boredom and self-destruction. I think this is my main problem! “When you lose sight of your dream, boredom sets in – deep, pervasive boredom and unsettledness – and in the midst of apparent success it drives you to the hollow pursuit of pleasure and leisure.” I used to get so bored and restless that I would just drive to Evansville just to go to Target. It was insane. I’d be there for 30 minutes and come back. I also have almost left on several trips. I think the last one I planned was up to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Ohio. Never went, but I had the feeling that I had to go and do something. I wanted to be anywhere other than where I was. “People need a sense that they exist for a reason. They need the clarity that a dream brings. Where there is no dream, there is no order to life, no reason to live. We perish by confusion and disorder; we make a mess of everything.”

4. Disappointment. “Sometimes you dream, and that dream is shattered. The experience creates a deep wound in your heart that gets filled with disappointment, like a bitter well. You approach each new opportunity with melancholy and doubt stored up inside of you.” I’m sure none of us have been disappointed with how things have turned out in our lives. “Our momentary assessment of a situation is always affected by human limitations. We cannot always see what God sees, and much more may be happening than we are aware of….At some point you have to give your disappointment to God and trust His judgment, which is perfect.”

5. Oversatisfaction. “Some look at their life and pronounce it good enough. They hit the cruise control button and lean back instead of forging ahead. They become satisfied with slow, incremental progress. Instead of being drawn by a dream (given to you by God), they are drawn to enjoy the abundance God gave them, so they spend time planning vacations, buying recreational equipment, and turning a blind eye to their higher calling. They trade their dream for the pleasantness of present circumstances.” I don’t need to say any more.

6. Fear of battles. “Some people fear the battle so much that they abandon their dreams before they ever reach the battlefield; they never even try, or the give up quickly.” I always work something up in my head and I just know that it’s going to be awful, and when I get there, it’s not that bad. What if I got scared and never took a chance? “Anticipation will kill you quicker than the fighting!.....There will seldom be that moment of absolute conviction of victory as we embark on the dream path. If you wait for people to toss flowers at your feet and wish you success, you will be waiting a long time.”

“Courage isn’t just for comic book heroes and movie stars. It’s for anyone who will go after his or her dream. Life is going to be full of battles, no matter what. But when you dream, the battles are taking you somewhere….I don’t like fighting, and maybe you don’t either. I would rather be a peacemaker and follow my dreams outside the fray. But life is short, and the enemy strives against my dreams.” God supplies us to the power to fight, but He won’t supply it until we need it. We get it little by little along the way. You have to step forward first. Christ agonized in the Garden of Gethsemane before He was crucified, but then He got up and took that first step and changed the world. “The decision to follow your dream is often made in quiet places, in the middle of the night, with no fanfare or celebration, and with a deep sense of impending doom.”

Learn from failure. George Washington lost two-thirds of all the battles he fought. Babe Ruth struck out twice as many times as he hit a home run. God uses failure to educate us. Psalm 119:71 says, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes.” God uses failure to motivate us. When you get knocked down, it should give you resolve to try even harder. Nobody wants to fail again. God uses failure to cultivate our character and refine our dreams. Romans 5:304 says, “We also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character.” Character that enhances our humanity and love for others. That’s character. “Failure softens our hears and makes us sensitive to others – less judgmental and more sympathetic.”

“God has called you to dream great dreams. He has called you to be creative, like our Master. He has made you to be an explorer, an adventurer. As you being the journey toward your dream, God will give you power along the way. With courage and God’s help, you will launch out of the starting gate and into your destiny.”

So...what’s holding you back?