You gave me a dream, Lord, and I gave it back to you,
Saying, “I can’t do it, Lord; I don’t know what to do.”
You said You’d help me, Lord, but I’m scared to try.
Fear has told me I can’t; yet, I know that’s a lie.
Dream your dreams; then, go on and follow through.
Do not neglect your gift, which was given you.
Set your mind on things above;
I’ll be there to guide you with My Love.
I’ll share my dream, Lord, by the power of Your Word;
Confess my doubts, Lord, and the lies that I’ve heard.
Then on the water, Lord, I’ll walk, and I’ll behold
All of Your miracles and signs that I’ve been told.
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col. 3:2).
My writing life has taken me in a different direction from learning a second language now, as I pursue writing for publication. But during that particular season of life in Spain, God taught me a lot about His strength and my weaknesses.
In Spain, immersed in another culture and language, I discovered that I had taken on something far beyond my own abilities. I had heard that people tend to “rise to their level of incompetence” (Peter Principle). I experienced that reality in Spain.
I felt I’d been pacing myself quite well, as I pursued a course of study as a nontraditional student. But after a few weeks in Spain, I lost all energy and crashed—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. As they say in the sports world, I “hit the wall.”
But in the process, I also re-discovered several important spiritual truths.
Some things are impossible to do in my own strength. “Humanly speaking, it is impossible …” (Matt. 19:26 NLT).
All things are possible with God. “… But with God everything is possible.” (ibid.)
I can do anything God calls me to do. “… I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength” (Phil. 4:13).
God will complete the work that He began in me. “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within (me), will continue his work until it is finally finished …” (Phil. 1:6).
God gives me His strength, when I am weak. “That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor. 12:10).
In looking for a clip of “The Impossible Dream,” I found this scene from Man of La Mancha, ”which was … inspired by Miguel de Cervantes‘s seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote. It tells the story of the “mad” knight, Don Quixote, as a play within a play, performed by Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition” (Wickipedia)
Dream Your Dreams
Some things are impossible to do in my own strength. “Humanly speaking, it is impossible …” (Matt. 19:26 NLT).
