People who start living out their hopes and dreams grasp a specific meaning to life that only a fraction of the people in this world will ever discover. I think instantly of people like Jim Elliot, Martin Luther King Jr., Joan of Arc, St. Stephen and Jesus, all of whom had dreams worth living and dying for. Even though most of these people never got to see the full fruit of their work, their legacy and dreams live on and have, in some cases, impacted and transformed the lives of literally billions of people.
I find myself talking with people a lot about what their dreams are for their future. Sometimes I get the response of “I don’t know,” which is completely acceptable (I go through phases of that answer, too). Other times, I get an incredible response from someone who is in tune with who they have been created to be and is not afraid to dream big. I believe God places specific hopes and dreams inside each person for a reason. What I would dream for might not be what you would dream for and vice versa. That is what is so awesome about a God who celebrates uniqueness.
It is as if the dreams God has for each person are like His heartbeat surrounding all people in the world, waiting to be heard by those who dare to hear it. It is a soft and steady heartbeat that impacts and transforms everyone who chooses to listen and live to the rhythm of it.
Personally, I love music and have even taught percussion workshops to young, aspiring musicians. I understand the importance of a cohesive-sounding rhythm and staying on a steady, set beat no matter what other rhythms people are playing. Every once in a while one of the young musicians I taught would get distracted or lose focus on the main beat, and cause others in the class to lose the beat as well. They would have to stop, listen and then begin playing their rhythm on beat again.
This reminds me of my life: I sometimes get off beat or simply do not fully listen to God’s heartbeat. I try to keep pounding out my own rhythm in life in order to make my dreams fit a certain beat. There would be an extra lake in this world if there were a drop of water for every time I have had to stop the off-beat rhythm I had been playing, listen closely again for God’s heartbeat, and then begin enjoying finding new rhythms to fit God’s set heartbeat.
God gives each person their own unique rhythms and dreams to live out and all of these somehow fit into His heartbeat and “big dream” for all people. Every individual has a choice each moment to either get off-beat and eventually give up playing altogether or to listen closely to God’s heartbeat and learn to play the unique rhythms that God has been dreaming-up specifically for them.
