Becoming a hero

So yesterday I wrote  about dreaming big.  I mentioned the book that I had just started reading, Wide Awake, by Erwin McManus.  Well, I’m now about halfway through the book, and I just can’t seem to put it down.  I have been feeling God’s tug in my life for the past few months, telling me that it might be time to start looking for a ministry again.  The problem was that I was still looking at the past.  I was looking at the things that I saw as failures in my life.  I wasn’t listening to God and being an optimist, looking for the next bigger and better life change that God has in store for Kelley and I.  McManus really laid some heavy thoughts on me tonight as I was reading.  In fact, here it is 2:00 AM again and my mind is racing so much that I have to get these thoughts out before I can even begin to think about sleep.  Here’s the plan for tonight; I’m going to leave some quotes from McManus and over the next few days, I’m going to expand my thoughts about what he is saying:

1.  “If nothing can stop God, then who can stop you when you are pursuing him and living for his purpose?”

2.  “I wonder if for many of us, the only thing stopping us from living the life God created us to live — the life of our dreams — is to let go of a life so good that it betrays the great .  Are we willing to give up all the things we have right now to be able to obtain that which God longs for us tomorrow?”

3.  “If one thing is clear in this passage from Hebrews (he is writing of Hebrews 11), it is that how long you live does not reflect how well you live.  The real question is, were you alive when you died?”

4.  “It is easier to kill a person than it is to kill a dream, once it captures your soul.”

5.  “Maybe that’s just it; it’s the pursuit that brings happiness.  When you’re pursuing, you’re believing and expecting.  It brings fulfillment even when the task remains unfulfilled.  By the way, research reveals that the people most rooted or grounded in reality are those who could be considered depressed.  Reality is really overrated; it makes you a pessimist.  Te be an optimist, you must be a dreamer.  You must awaken the hero within you that sees beyond the problem to the promise.  I call this hero the Believer.”

Well, I’m going to leave it at that tonight.  I will revisit each of these in upcoming posts.  Feel free to start thinking through these on your own and maybe together, we can begin to start living the lives God has called us to.