Whose Dream Are You Living?

"A man's heart plans his way: but the LORD directs his steps.." Proverbs 16:9

Today is the day we are celebrating the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And as is often the case on this holiday, in reflecting and commenting on his life many people are going to reference what he so eloquently articulated as his dream.  This of course is a great thing. 

You know what else is great? When you discover God's dream for you and you live on purpose to accomplish it. However, I wonder how many people have chosen to live for something that is an alternative pathway compared to what God has intentionally designed for you? I suspect it's far, far greater than what most people would like to admit.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." - Jeremiah 29:11

Many people live in pursuit of a dream that's different or far smaller in scope than what God has planned for them. His plans and expectations for us are so far beyond what we see for ourselves, but, unfortunately, many people settle for what they can see not what God has for them. Fortunately, we have a wonderful example in Dr. King of living a B.I.G. dream based on God's purpose for his life.

From the perspective of his life, here are five key characteristics to assess whether you are living your dream or God's:

1. Purposeful vs Positional: God's goal is not to elevate you to a position for the sake of you getting a title. If He wants to elevate you to a position of influence in a company or industry it's for His purposes in what He wants accomplished in the earth. Dr. King's elevation to be viewed as the leader of the Civil Rights Movement was for a specific purpose not just so he could throw that title around as a false badge of honor.
2. Relational vs Egotistical: God is all about loving people not completing projects. Building relationships with Himself and others are intimately woven into His plans for you. Serving others should be at the heart of your dream if you are truly living the dream that God has given you. How will people's lives be different because you showed up? Dr. King said, "Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
3. Progression vs Possessions: Is your dream to help people move forward or is only focused on  what you're going to gain in the process? Are you in it only for what you can get out of it? Dr. King was a very well-educated man who probably could have done other things with his life to earn more money, recognition, and an easier life. I'm sure he could have used his influence to enrich himself. Instead he chose to eschew those things in favor of using his education, talents, and access to bless others without an expectation of anything in return that would benefit him in a self-aggrandizing way. He said, "Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness." There's nothing wrong with the acquisition of wealth when it's not your primary pursuit.
4. Transformational vs Transactional: How is your dream helping people live like God wants them to live? Sometimes we think too small and play it too safe. Dr. King took a major risk with his own life and his family's to push for something that many at the time called impossible. He could have been satisfied just to count the number of times they marched, how many rallies they had, how many people showed up, or his personal honors and awards. However, if his focus had remained that narrow he would have never succeeded in being a major transformational force of changing race relations in America and around the world. God's goal is to transform lives. Is yours the same?
5. Multi-generational vs Temporal: What are you helping to build for the future? How are people going to evaluate what you have done 50 or 100 years from now? Was the benefit just for today or for generations to come? Dr. King's message and example lives on nearly 50 years after his death and he is still impacting lives today. Will people be able to say the same thing about what you have accomplished?
   

So do you need to reevaluate your dream? I look forward to your comments below...