Day Thirty-Two

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DREAMS AND CALLING

God’s gifts and God’s call are under full warranty—never canceled, never rescinded.

—ROMANS 11:29 MSG

I had a pretty vivid dream the other night. It doesn’t happen to me often, but when it does, it is visceral. When I woke up, I felt it so deep in my gut that I had to call my friends who were in the dream just to make sure it wasn’t a reality. I felt really weird for a few hours, and I had to keep reminding myself that it was just a dream, that none of it had really happened. But that’s how dreams work sometimes. They feel very real until they fade away and you return to your normal life.

It doesn’t quite go that way when you think about the dreams you have for your life, does it? The dreams I have for my life are often wishes that my heart makes. I dream about a job or a spouse or kids or a house. We can have dreams of things we hope come to pass, things we’ve seen in our mind’s eye, and things we really want to have. And none of that is bad—as long as we keep dreams in their right spot. Not promises, not guarantees, but dreams.

Dreams are different from your calling. Your calling is sure and strong. Your calling, the thing that God has placed in you for the good of the planet and the good of your heart, isn’t going anywhere. Rebekah Lyons says your calling is where your burdens and your talents collide.

I think of it this way: your calling is the cash in the bank; your dreams are all the ways you can come up with spending that cash. Another way to look at it? Your calling is the ingredient in the kitchen, and your dreams are all the ways you can use that ingredient.

Your calling, the thing that God has placed in you for the good of the planet and the good of your heart, isn’t going anywhere.

Why do we need to differentiate? Because you need to have dreams—big, beautiful, bold, crazy dreams of what you think could happen. But you need to build your life around your calling, not your dreams. Your dreams will change over time. Some will come to pass, and some will pass away. But your calling will remain true.

BE BRAVE: Make a list of a few dreams you have for your life. How do you see your calling being displayed in your dreams?