We all lose our way in life. If you are anything like me you get distracted by just about every shinny new object and find yourself three weeks later asking, “well, how did I get here?” More often than not these are simple things that need correcting: I didn’t clean the house, I forgot to go grocery shopping, has it really been that long since I worked out?

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Those are all easy to fix but what do you do when it’s something bigger than that? What do you do when you find yourself working at a dead-end job and you are five years down the road and your life looks nothing like what you had dreamed it would?

The Dreamer’s Pride

Remember Joseph (Gen 37) when he first received his dream that his family would bow down to him? He was arrogant, proud and to be quite honest, he was a jerk. He ran off and boasted to his brothers that they would bow down to him then he ran and told his parents that they too would serve him.

That sort of attitude does not make for good leadership. It was not until many years and many tragedies later that he was finally humble enough to be the leader his family and Egypt needed. It was God’s school of hard knocks for him.

There are often many things that stand in between ourselves and our dreams. The primary thing we need to overcome is our pride. Let’s be honest, our dreams are amazing! Anyone who could accomplish them would have to be a pretty awesome person.

Sometimes it just takes some time and humbling to get that pride out of us. That is exactly what those past few miserable years have been.

Getting Back On Course

As painful of a realization as it may be, this is God’s way of letting you know that you are finally ready for your dream. This reminder of your passion is Holy Spirit’s way of saying you are ready for your dream.

So now that we see we are off course, and we are painfully aware of how God has humbled us, how do we get to where we belong?

1. Asses the situation. The first thing we need to do is see where we are right now and what we need to immediately change about our circumstances. Remember that even when Joseph was in jail he took charge of his life and God prospered him for it (Gen 39). Take a few moments and write down some things in your life that you can change in the next week or two to improve your current situation.
2. Get right with God and man. Many of us have left a trail of destruction as we have gone through this time of humbling. Repent for the mistakes we have made and the sins we have committed. Then go to the people you have offended and repent (apologize).
   Hint: If you are not ready to apologize to the people you have hurt you are also not ready to achieve your dreams.
3. Use your talents to grow where you are. We may not always be able to change our situation right away so make the best of where you are. Remember when Joseph was in jail, his lowest point, he used his gift of dream interpretation to speak to those around him. He didn’t wallow in self pity or complain about how his life was so unfair. He did the best he could with what he had and it was that attitude that propelled him to leadership in Egypt.
4. Do something that scares you. This is the hardest part for most of us. We chose the path we did because it was the path of least resistance. The path we were supposed to be on was scary and difficult. It is not until we are willing to get out of our comfort zone that we find we are able to achieve our dreams. To achieve your dreams you must be more scared of not achieving them than you are of the potential failures along the way.

Ready For Destiny

Have you seen that you have lost your way? Are you ready to get more out of life? It can be scary to begin taking charge of your life and taking the risks needed to achieve your dreams but it will be worth it. Any pain and suffering you have gone through up to this point has been there to make you stronger and to help flush out the filth, the pride, the characteristics in us that would have caused us to destroy our dream if we had achieved it before we had gone through this process.

[reminder]What is one step you can do today to take charge of your life that will prepare you for your dreams?[/reminder]