Dream to Change

Knowing your goals and your “whys” can change everything about your life. Having goals is important. In all things, a goal makes you work. How hard you work depends on your ”why.”

When I have one of my ideas, I have to think it through to know if I really think it’s worth it. If my purpose for setting a goal isn’t a meaningful purpose, then it’s likely that my goal needs reevaluated. If my purpose is good, God steps in. So many times I‘ve prayed for this or that to go well. So many times it’s looked like there was no way to be successful, but....BUT GOD.

There is a song by Blind Melon that is inspiring to me. If you know anything about the lead singer of Blind Melon, Shannon Hoon, he was a pretty amazing song writer. The song Change is a game changer for me. While this song was (for him) about overcoming his struggle with addiction and depression, for me it can be about any battle that we fight internally. That’s good song writing; touching someone‘s life who may not have the same life experiences, but can relate to your words on the most basic level. In this song, Shannon says a lot. The first verse of the song says, “I don‘t feel the sun’s coming out today. It’s staying in. It’s going to find another way. As I sit here in this misery, I don’t think I’ll ever —no Lord—see the sun from here.” That first verse hooked me. Who doesn’t feel that way sometimes? Regardless of what the struggle is, WE ALL STRUGGLE with something. We all have things that we have to overcome. The best description of how I feel when I overcome anything in my life is seeing and feeling the sun. When I can’t quite get my footing, I also feel like the darkness settles in. I can relate to these words.

What so many people don’t realize is that darkness is everywhere and always has been. In Genesis 1, the Bible says, ”1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” God had already cast Lucifer out of Heaven before he created man. Some time between the creation of the Heavens and the Earth and the creation of man, darkness was found in Lucifer. He and the other rogue angels were expelled from Heaven to earth. We know this because of the scripture in Ezekiel 28:17 where it recounts the event saying “Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.” Darkness was here before us, darkness entrapped even the first humans, and until the return of Christ, we have to continue to fight the darkness.

Later in the song, the lyrics “When it feels life aint worth living, you’ve got to stand up and take a look around and look up way to the sky. And when your deepest thoughts are broken, keep on dreaming, boy, because when you stop dreaming it’s time to die.” Dreams make life worth living here on earth. Without dreams and aspirations we never set goals, and we don’t have purpose. Purposeful aspirations are dreams that come from God and serve His purpose for your life. Work on your dreams your whole life. When your dream comes true, find a new one. It has been told that when Walt Disney was on his deathbed, he was still scribbling sketches of his vision for EPCOT. It is amazing to me that right up until he left this earth he was working on his purpose which has brought so much happiness to people over the years. The theme of Walt Disney’s dreams was progress and change. How can we get to where we are going without change? If we stayed the same and made the same mistakes Adam and Eve and even Lucifer made, how can we get to Heaven?

Your dreams don’t have to be Walt Disney level to be significant as long as they’re significant to YOUR God-given purpose. Your true purpose can only be good, and you have to be willing to drop the dreams that aren’t for a good purpose. We are all guilty of selfish dreams. Just make sure the goals you pursue are the ones that will create change that is for the greater good. The Bible says that whatever you do, do it for the Lord. Colossians 3:23-24 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord , and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. Changing that to today’s words can change your perspective. Do what you do to honor Him and bring praise to His name. Do not do what you do to honor yourself and bring praise to YOUR name. Pride got the the devil in a lot of trouble. Be humble, and continue your dream to change.