How to Simply and Easily Discover Your God-Given Dreams

Inside: It doesn’t matter if you lost track of your God-given dreams years ago or yesterday. Rediscovering them isn’t as hard as you think when you use these 5 simple steps.

If someone had asked me a few years ago to describe my dream life, I couldn’t have done it. I’d have had no idea what to say.

First, I’d have drawn a complete blank. Then I’d have dredged up a fake smile and described my life as it was then—a corporate executive with a house on the hill, a luxury car in my driveway, and a great-looking relationship in the bag.

But I’d have been lying through my teeth. Everything I’d accomplished looked great and I should have been over the moon in love with my life. But the thought of all I’d accomplished only caused a painful gnawing in my gut.

The truth is, I wouldn’t have been able to think of, much less give, an honest answer to describe my God-given dreams. And I’d have left any such conversation with a dissatisfied, unsettled feeling.

You see, I had no clue what my dreams were. As it turns out, the life I was living was someone else’s dream, not mine.

Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, get this free printable download—The Essential Guide to Finding Clarity. It gives you 7 revealing questions to help break through your fog of confusion and decide what to do now.

Why You Abandoned Your God-Given Dreams

I can’t pinpoint exactly when I did it, but at some point, I abandoned my God-given dreams. Just like you did.

You buried them deep in a vault at the bottom of your heart, hoping the lack of light and oxygen would starve them to death. Waiting for them to fade into nothingness and leave you in peace.

You buried them then threw yourself into creating the life the world said you should want. The one they said would bring you untold happiness and success once you achieved it.

You buried your God-given dreams deep enough to doubt if they even existed in the first place. So deep, your memories of them are wispy at best and amnesiac at worst.

And yet…

Every now and then, those old dreams bubble up to the surface of your mind. They call to you like a siren, luring you into beautiful, tantalizing visions of what could be.

And every time, you stuff them down again, shove them back into exile, and dismiss them as ridiculous fantasies.

How did this happen? How did you come to turn your back on—even completely forget about—the dreams God gave you?

Perhaps, as it did for me, it unfolded in a subtle, sneaky progression of 3 steps.

1. You felt foolish about your God-given dreams.

Somewhere along the way, I started receiving the subtle, insidious message that my God-given dream was ridiculous and unrealistic.

The successful traditionalists laughed at my untraditional dream and called me a fool for having it. They scoffed and called my God-given dream nothing but fantasy, then patted me on the head and dismissed me. My dream was an absurd foundation on which to build anything resembling a successful life, they said.

And I bought their lies because the path to achieving my dream was unclear and looked difficult.

After all, isn’t achieving your God-given dreams supposed to be easy and feel great? Well, then, the traditionalists were right and my dreams were stupid.

If, like me, you’ve had your God-given dreams laughed at, ridiculed, and dismissed, it’s no wonder you slammed the vault shut on them and keep it sealed tight.

2. You downgraded your God-given dreams.

But maybe also like me, you didn’t give up your vision immediately back when they first started telling you it was stupid. You clung to your faith, hoping it could become real.

You did what you could think of to pursue your vision while others looked on, giving you space to “find yourself,” and patiently waiting for you to come to your senses.

For months, maybe even a couple of years, you tried different paths you thought would lead to your dream life. But those didn’t immediately work out the way you expected or wanted them to. So you watered down your dreams and tried dream-adjacent paths instead.

You know, not your actual God-given dreams. But more “realistic” goals with enough of your original dream outcomes mixed in that you figured you could be happy anyway.

3. You buried your God-given dreams.

So you lived that dream-adjacent life for as long as you could. But time was slipping away and you were no closer to achieving your actual dreams. Maybe you even concluded that your dream-adjacent path wouldn’t get you where you wanted to go anyway.

Having tried every reasonable avenue, you finally threw in the towel. You decided—maybe consciously, maybe not—that they were right and your dreams were ridiculous.

You threw in the towel, turned away from your heart’s true desire, and stopped trusting God with your dreams. With one discouraged decision, you stepped onto the path everyone had been waiting for you to get on.

You abandoned your dreams for “reality.”

Related: How to Know What Your Calling Is from God (It’s Life’s Ultimate Joy!)

How to Rediscover Your God-Given Dreams

The good news is, your God-given dreams were never ridiculous and you were never a fool for having, wanting, or believing in them.

Your long-dormant dreams—as silly as they may seem to others—were God’s way of steering you toward His purpose and plan for your life. They’re His way of leading you to your God-given purpose, which is His ministry to the world around you. It’s what He’s been trying to do all along.

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.

Psalm 32:8 (NLT)

You were simply a young woman whose confidence in her heart’s deepest desire wasn’t yet unshakeable. And through lack of encouragement and support, your faith in your dreams got shaken right off their foundation and you stopped trusting God with your dreams.

But the best news is, you can rediscover the dreams God planted in your heart. Here’s how.

1. Open the vault where you hid your God-given dreams.

This isn’t as hard as you might think, I promise. But be warned, the side effects are butterflies in your stomach and giddy excitement in your heart.

Get alone somewhere, close your eyes, release your self-judgment, and let yourself imagine this: Imagine the slate of your life got wiped clean. You lost your job, your relationship broke up, and no one’s depending on you for anything. You’re free as a bird to make any decision you want.

What or where would your first instinct lead you to? A whole new career direction? A whole new city or country? Maybe even a whole new you.

Give your imagination wings and allow yourself to simply dream your dreams. Don’t try to contain or limit the process with “realistic questions.” Those will come later. For now, just let your imagination fly.

This exercise is important because your first instinct usually tells you everything you need to know about your heart’s truest desires.

2. Decide whose opinion matter as you pursue your dreams.

Before you go any further, you have to make a decision. You need to decide on purpose whose opinion matters the most to you: other people’s or God’s.

This is important since one big reason why you abandoned your God-given dreams in the first place was because you cared about what other people thought of your choices. So take this step seriously.

On a blank sheet of paper—or your notes app or on the back of a napkin—write the names of every single person who you fear would:

• Be disappointed in you.
• Turn up their nose at you.
• Shun you.

Because you decided to start going after your God-given dreams.

Write every single name then ask yourself what the consequences of their disappointment and disapproval would be. Write those down too.

Finally, ask yourself if you’re willing to live with those consequences.

Bonus: As a bonus for joining my weekly newsletter, get this free printable download—The Essential Guide to Finding Clarity. It gives you 7 revealing questions to help break through your fog of confusion and decide what to do now.

3. Get real about the obstacles to your God-given dreams.

If you choose to go with God’s opinion, then it’s time to get practical. Because now you need to think about the real obstacles to the pursuit of your dreams.

• Is money an issue? If you choose to go after your heart’s desire, will you still be able to pay your mortgage or rent? Will the power company shut your lights off?
• Is family an issue? Do your loved ones need you for some essential purpose only you can fulfill?
• Do you have other real and irreversible commitments tethering you to your current life?

If you’re uncomfortable but not screaming in terror at this point, then these dreams are probably the real deal.

And don’t sweat the obstacles yet because you can always come up with strategies to handle them and any others as they arise.

4. Get real about your dream commitment.

Now, it’s time to think about your level of dream commitment. What are you willing to do and how far are you willing to go in pursuit of these dreams?

• Could you give up your things if you had to? The stuff you’ve accumulated as representatives of your success? Could you give up your status?
• Could you walk away from the life you’ve built with your blood, sweat, tears, time, and money?
• Are your God-given dreams worth giving up everything you know and have? You may not have to but would you be willing to?

Looking at the man, Jesus felt genuine love for him. “There is still one thing you haven’t done,” he told him. “Go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Mark 10:21-22 (NLT)

When pursuing your dreams gets hard—and as sure as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, it will—you’ll have to call on your resolve, the strength of the Holy Spirit, and the wisdom in your Bible to keep going.

So decide ahead of time if you’re ready and willing to stay the course through the ups and downs ahead.

5. Check if you’re scared enough yet.

Hopefully, you’ve gotten to this part without breaking out in hives or having a mini-breakdown. And hopefully, those butterflies and giddy excitement have taken over your heart and stomach the way I promised.

If you can’t—even in your secret heart—imagine how amazing you’d feel if these dreams became real, then you need to go back to the beginning. Because the dreams you came up with in step 1 are probably not the deepest, most precious ones you have.

Get with the Holy Spirit, praying in the name of Jesus Christ, and dig deeper until you hit it big and find your real dreams.

Because here’s the raw truth. Your real God-given dreams will scare the bejesus out of you and will probably feel impossible. This is exactly how they should feel. Otherwise, they’re not God-sized.

So root around in your vault until you find them. You’ll know it’s them when you feel scared out of your mind and excited beyond words.

Get Your Free Printable Guide to Finding Clarity (With 7 Revealing Questions!)

When you’re eager to live your God-given dream, you don’t need to waste time getting distracted by what the world says. Use this free guide to decide your next step.

1. Get the free guide. You’ll get the printable roadmap and join my weekly newsletter. Just click here to get it and subscribe.
2. Put the coaching-style questions to work. Use the 7 revealing questions to break through your fog of confusion and decide what to do now.
3. Act on your decision. Keep your eyes focused on what you’ve decided and go after it.

Here’s a sneak peek of the free printable clarity finder:

Your Action Plan to Find Your God-Given Dreams Again

If someone asked me today to tell them about my dream life, I could. In exquisite detail. Even better? I live my God-given dreams every day.

You can too. Sure, a lifetime of years has passed since you locked your dreams away and left them to die. But as long as you’re alive, you have time and hope on your side.

Fair warning, though. Finding your God-given dreams again isn’t the hard part. Keeping them alive is. You’ll need to be committed—to God, the dreams He’s given you, and yourself—focussed, and willing to take massive, uncomfortable action.

Plus, you’ll need to be the fierce guardian and protector of your God-given dreams, standing as a shield between everything and everyone who wants to harm them, including yourself.

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to his people: “Do not listen to these prophets when they prophesy to you, filling you with futile hopes. They are making up everything they say. They do not speak for the Lord!

Jeremiah 23: 16 (NLT)

But it will be worth it all when you stand before the Lord to proudly give an account of your one life.

Before you go, get your FREE printable download to help conquer your confusion—The Essential Guide to Finding Clarity.

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