Why I Stopped Chasing the Dream

by Any Lee @WordsByAndyLee

I once had a dream that Prince Charming would sweep me off my feet, throw me on his horse, and we’d ride into the sunset to live happily ever after.

The dream came true. Prince Charming did sweep me off my feet. We jumped into his black 1990 Trans Am, and we rode off into the sunset for a forty-eight-hour honeymoon. There was a war brewing, and my soldier needed to be back to work on Monday, and I had to teach the first day of school. They frown on requesting a substitute on the first day.

I was thrilled. I loved my prince. But I quickly learned that he could not fill all the holes in my heart.

So, I had another dream.

This one involved children.

We had one baby, then another, and finally a third child, and my dream was complete.

I loved my children, but parenting demands every ounce of a mother’s energy and patience. It’s hard work.  It involves giving yourself away over and over. Kind of like marriage. My children could not fill the soul-holes either.

My blessings overflowed, but a restlessness stirred.

“I need another dream!” I cried.

That dream didn’t come so quickly because the Lord wanted me to learn a few things first. That’s when he gave me Psalm 37:4.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give a you the desires of your heart.”

That’s a good one! It’s a promise to receive all the desires of your heart!

It’s a wonderful promise, but I knew there was a catch.

I also knew that the desires of our hearts can be less than life-giving. They look good. Many are good. But our desires will leave us empty time and time again if we don’t understand the command in Psalm 37:4.

“Delight yourself in the Lord.”

Delight.

I’ve always interpreted delight as worship. And I love to worship. So, I worshiped intentionally with everything I had even on days when I didn’t want to.

As I worshiped he gave me a dream to write a book.

So, I did.

 But I quickly learned that writing the book was the easy part. The desire to sell more books never ends nor does the nagging feeling that I need to write another. And as I stroll through bookstores lined with a million books, there will always be a best-selling author whose sold copies outnumber the hairs on my head. I’m guilty of comparison-discouragement.

But God only told me to write a book. He didn’t tell me to be famous.

“What is success?” God whispered into my restless soul.

As quickly as the thought wafted through my brain, the answer settled deep.

“Fulfillment,” I whispered back.

 I want the holes to be filled.

Yet I’m realizing that no dream—even fulfilled ones, can satisfy, because God loves us too much to allow it.

“Andy, delight yourself in me . . . in me . . . . in me . . . . “

When God is our delight, he is our desire, and that desire fills our souls forever.

Keep writing.

Keep dreaming.

Keep marketing.

But never forget the One who can fill our soul-holes like no book or platform or success can.

Stop chasing the dream. Chase Him.

TWEETABLES
Stop chasing the dream. Chase God instead - @WordsByAndyLee on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Why I stopped Chasing the Dream - @WordsByAndyLee on @EdieMelson (Click to Tweet)

Andy Lee is a Bible teacher, blogger, and author of A Mary Like Me: Flawed Yet Called (Leafwood, 2016) and The Book of Ruth Key Word Bible Study: A 31-Day Journey to Hope and Promise (AMG Publishers). Visit her site, www.wordsbyandylee.com where Andy digs deep to live fully and join her daily with hundreds of viewers on her Bite of Bread Facebook Live broadcast at 8:20 AM ET to start your day in the Word.