Micah previously wrote a fantastic article about the speech of a young lady in our church and I was so inspired by what he wrote, I would like to add my two cents as well.
While you can read his post for the context, I can summarize that the young lady mentioned that although she hadn’t necessarily set any definite goals for her life, she simply took advantage of the opportunities that God placed in front of her. I love what she said and I agree with the way she was thinking. I would, however, like to add one thing to her speech…
She definitely set a goal. It simply didn’t look like the goals that everyone else set. Her goal was to follow God’s leading wherever He guided her – and from my third party view, she seems to be doing a wonderful job.
An earlier speaker that morning was a young lady who finished a 6-month program in makeup at a school in south Florida. She basically asked the audience a simple question: what is your definition of success? And once you decide what that definition is (or as you’re in the process of figuring it out), it doesn’t do any good to compare your definition to someone else’s definition. A very astute observation, for sure.
I have an issue with the way that “goals” and “dreams” are represented in mainstream culture today. Those two words have been hijacked, where it’s almost embarrassing to speak of them, or we feel required to give disclaimers before we talk about them. That does a disservice to a God Who created us with imagination, and it discourages any innovation or advancement. Anything that exists today was once only an idea – a dream. Having an idea of where we want to go or what we want to build isn’t evil; we simply have to define what we mean (harking back to “The Princess Bride”).
Let’s look at the young lady who spoke on that Sunday; I would propose that she definitely had a goal, but it wasn’t as defined as someone who wants to compete at the Olympics, let’s say. Just because one’s goal isn’t as specifically defined as another doesn’t mean that the dream doesn’t exist.
Let’s say that Person A has a dream that is pretty specific – he wants to start his own business. That goal will define his steps, as Micah was talking about. He will probably go to school to learn business, will find business mentors, will read books and listen to blogs on entrepreneurship, will mold his everyday life around his specific goal.
Now Person B has a less-defined dream, but a dream nonetheless – he simply wants to influence young people. His goal will also define his steps, although the path that he can go is more broad and can actually be accomplished in a thousand different ways. He could be a youth pastor, a coach, a leadership speaker, a high-school teacher, a missionary, a video game designer, and on and on. Just because the dream isn’t specific doesn’t mean the dream isn’t real.
For example, my passion in life is similar to person B above – my purpose in life is to influence everyone that comes across my path. When I was younger, I didn’t have a specific blueprint of what that looks like, so I did what the speaker from Sunday did – I took advantage of every opportunity that was laid in front of me. I decided at the last minute to go on a missions trip to Venezuela, I accepted a last-minute scholarship for an Associate’s Degree in Music Performance, I spoke in schools and for business gatherings… I allowed my actions to be led by the divinely-created passions of my heart. Now that I’m older, I’m starting to get a clearer picture of some specifics; the gifts and talents I was born with are combining with the circumstances that I have experienced and the skills I have developed. While I will still be looking to influence people, I have a more specific plan of what that looks like than I did 10 or 15 years ago.
I believe everyone is created with a purpose – note: NOT necessarily the same thing as a “career.” The passions of someone’s heart should guide them in a direction, even if the specific steps may seem broad and uncertain. I believe that once the puzzle pieces of our individual actions are one day put together and put in a frame, we will zoom out and see the magnificent plan that God was able to put in place.
All that is required of us is to take a step… then another… then another.
Chris Craft
The Soapbox 