On June 7, 1913, Hudson Stuck, an Alaskan missionary, and three companions became the first mountain climbing team to ascend Mt. McKinley, the highest point on the American continent at 20,320 feet. Can you imagine being one of first persons to accomplish such a feat? I wonder how many people tried to end their dream before it ever got started. You've known naysayers haven't you . . . "that's crazy talk," "it's impossible," "only a fool would attempt such a thing," "you just can't do it."
According to their success, these men overcame their own negative fears and the killjoy remarks of skeptics. Stuck and his cohorts dared to dream and drove themselves with tenacity toward thedream God had put in their hearts. Well, guess what? You can too. Has God planted a dream in your heart? Have you tried to forget the dream, but it just won't go away? Have you been carrying around some aspiration for too long because of paralyzing fears and pessimistic opinions of naysayers?
Do some homework: comb through the Bible searching for any command, principle, or example that warns against what is in your heart--what you find will tell you whether God will or will not sanction your dream; seek the counsel and prayers of a few folks that you know walk close to God on a daily basis; determine not to allow the destructive criticisms of doubters to influence you more than the promises of God; ask God to confirm your dream and give you peace to proceed or either to assure you that your dream is not in his will for you; pray, pray, and pray some more; and, finally, remember that if God places a dream in your heart, he also equips you with the resources and strength to see it through.
The only person who can kill a dream God plants in you is you. Now, go with confidence and do what God has placed in your heart.
by Jack Manor
"I know that You can do all things. And that no purpose
of Yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2).
