My dad taught us, “Dreams are the substance of every great achievement in life.”
“I have a dream” spoken by a 32 year-old young pastor from Atlanta, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on August 23, 1963 still resonates in our hearts today. He had a dream – he was committed.
One thing he recognized his entire life was that God was the source of any success he would ever have in his life.
“A man may ruin his chances by his own foolishness and then blame it on the Lord!” (Proverbs 19:3 TLB).
This means that some men make mistakes, create their own tragedies out of their own folly, then blame the results of their own failures and losses on God.
God is not a scapegoat for failure.
God is the source of our successes.
To make God the scapegoat for our failures is to eliminate His ability to be the source of our solutions.
God never fails. To accuse God of failure is to accuse Him of not being God.
In the Old Testament, King David experienced the worst defeat of his life when he camped at Ziklag with his band of armed men before rising to the throne of Israel. While he and his men were out of the camp, raiders came and carried off their goods and families. When the men returned, they were angry to the point of revolt. They talked of stoning David.
They followed David because they believed he was anointed by God to be king, and they were sure to serve in his kingdom when he rose to the throne. They aspired to high military and even political positions.
They knew God’s hand was on David, and by following David, they were, in a sense, following God. That’s why they were drawn to David–he was God’s man. Yet, in crisis, they talked of killing him.
They talked of killing the one they knew heard from God, the one who was being led by God in spite of his mistakes. In thinking this way, they were tempted to cut off their only hope of victory.
Only God answering David’s prayers kept them from their error. By following David through their crisis, they recaptured their families, recovered their losses, plus gained the bonus of the plunder from their enemies who were destroyed.
In a moment of extreme tension, mourning their loss and plight, inundated by the emotions experienced, listening to others’ complaints and the growing indictment against David’s leadership, they almost lost all. In their willingness to trust David, to “follow the vision” they not only experienced God’s miracle and prosperity, but they also fulfilled their goals and achieved their dreams.
DREAM DREAMS. Trust God with them. Commit your path to Him. He will fulfill your dreams. He is the source of your success.
May the Lord bless you today and keep you in the center of His will. Until all your dreams are fulfilled.