I've discovered several items that has sharpened my focus on personal dreams, vision and goals. The first discovery is the insight of not sleeping through my dreams. The freedom of living our dreams is real life, as opposed to a nightmare of anticipated disasters and failures. This has been a huge breakthrough in pursuing the dreams that God breathed in my heart. Since my upbringing, I was aware of my talents and skills, but seizing the opportunity seemed beyond my grasp. I was always encouraged to invest in my talents, but the one thought that held me back was fear; statements like: maybe someday my dreams will come true – maybe one day I'll be good enough. I now realize that those voices were lies. I realized that I operated from a lack of confidence and trust, which was not God’s desire and calling.  That is why I say: sleeping through my dreams because I saw them as fiction. God has given you and I a spirit of power, love and a sound mind – not a spirit of fear. Therefore, dreams are to be lived not feared, accomplished not wished and initiated not procrastinated.

Initiative. To live your dreams and visions is to initiate them. In once being a sideliner, I now understand that I am really in the game. God has suited me up in his protection and armed me with talents and skills. Now it's time to get dirty and live the sport of pursuing dreams. Like wandering in dark places, we will never experience the light if we do not take steps to find it. I've always been a big dreamer – even now. But when the alarm clock sounds, it doesn't just mean to wake up, but to get up. Divine opportunities await us like wisdom that calls out to us (Prov. 9:3). God given you His vision and he is waiting on you to go! Here are a few analogies of God waiting on us: the person who's stopped at the change of a green light or a bird singing in an open cage, instead of singing the tune of his escape.

In his book, Seizing Your Divine Moment, Erwin McManus attributed the impact of seizing divine moments through the story of Jonathan. This young man was called by God to pursue the Philistines. By himself, loaded with very little armor and his young apprentice, he went after the Philistines. In addition, he went without his father's permission and knowledge. The fact that Jonathan was aware of a real sense of adventure, and danger, he realized that he had an opportunity to seize for God's glory. Jonathan advanced beyond the circumstance of man's capabilities to seize God-sized possibilities – this is what McManus calls the "Jonathan Factor." The Jonathan Factor in my life was overcoming the fear of failure and to embrace God's dreams and victories.

In what way does this speak to you in the pursuit of your dreams to live?