I wonder how many of us have given up on our calling because of a dream gone bad. How many of us have taken the skin of a dream & grafted it to the skeleton of our calling without even realizing we’ve made the two one when that’s not what God intended.
I’ve lost count of the number of conversations I’ve had with people in the last several months who have wrestled with that very thing. People who have been tempted to give up on a calling because their dream wasn’t coming to life how they envisioned…and sometimes not at all. I’ve also seen the freedom they feel when they realize that their calling & their dream are not the same thing. That just because a dream project failed doesn’t mean they’ve been misunderstanding their calling all along.
After what I thought were two “life-long” career paths ended I’ve learned to try really hard not to confuse the skeleton of a calling & the skin of a dream. It’s a process…probably a lifelong one…but I’m learning to separate the calling God has placed on my life from the dreams He’s given me. I’m focusing on who I’m going to be for the rest of my life rather than what I’m going to do for the rest of my life.
Do you wrestle with separating your calling from your dreams?
This is a good way to articulate the difference. I, too, have had many of these conversations over the last few months. I think that dreams are elusive, while our calling is what we can practice in the here and now. We are called to live faithful lives of peace and persistence. Our dream might be to do that through being a public speaker or writing hit music or owning a business. It's important to distinguish the two or we may always be chasing instead of living.
I do.
Good food for thought :)
Actually, I can see being and doing having both calling and dreams.