When Your Dream Wears You Out

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Wouldn’t it be great if pursuing our dream was all sunshine and roses?  If whatever we tried worked out just as planned?  If whatever we used to measure forward progress looked more like this

than this?

If you’ve worked at your dream for any amount of time, you know that while there may be easy days or seasons, there are also times when dreams feel more like sweat and toil, nothing works out like planned and forward progress is measured in fractions or even negative numbers.

When our dreams wear us out, it's easy to doubt and wonder if we are really doing what we are supposed to do. These 13 quotes from Christian leaders like Lysa TerKeurst, Michael Hyatt and others will help you out of your dream funk.When our dreams wear us out, it’s easy to doubt and wonder if we are really doing what we are supposed to do … what God has called us to do. I was feeling it on a recent rainy afternoon. I was restless and unsure.  I had no plan and no inspiration. As I sat at my desk, knowing I needed some Jesus time and not sure where to turn, I came across a little blue notebook.

This notebook is not really a journal, although I have written out some of my thoughts in it.  It’s not a planner, although I’ve outlined some plans in it.  It’s really just a collection of notes and ideas from a variety of studies, books, conferences and webinars over the last couple of years. It holds scribbled words from Compel, Propel, Catalyst and a host of other random stuff I experienced along the way.

As I flipped through the notebook, I realized how much God has pumped in to me. I had just forgotten most of it.  Between the multi-colored lines, God spoke direction, motivation and inspiration.  If you are in your own dream funk, let these words seep into your heart and see if they lead you from worn out to energized again.


God gets me.  Jesus actually likes me … He didn’t merely deliver me, but wholeheartedly delights in me. ~ Lisa Harper, A Perfect Mess.


Love the fear.  If you ever want to do something of significance, you have to learn to love the sick, tense feeling in your belly instead of hate it.  ~ Jennie Allen


Most people quit right before the inflection point.  The prize goes to the people who are sticking with it.  ~ Michael Hyatt



You ask God to do signs, miracles and wonders, but you refuse to put yourself where you need one.  ~ Christine Caine


If your dream is so small that you don’t need a team, your dream is too small. ~ Jeff Goins


You can’t press on from a place of exhaustion, comparison, disappointment or apathy. ~ Christine Caine


God has called you to do something that has never been done before.  So stop looking around. ~Lisa Bevere


Your soul is healthiest when it comes back frequently and wholeheartedly to God. ~Judah Smith, How’s Your Soul?


I’ve never had clarity; what I have always had is trust.  So I will pray that you will trust in God. ~Mother Teresa


Think about where your heart is centered.  Gifts are about what you are.  Heart is about how you will use the gifts.  ~Lisa Allen


Your story is not the story.  It is God’s story and God’s story is always about transformation. ~ Lysa TerKeurst


There is no failure.  There is only learning.  If it doesn’t work, re-tool, re-shape, learn from it and do it again. ~ Michael Hyatt


Don’t find time, as though it is hiding.  Schedule time. ~ Renee Swope


Good stuff, huh? Which one spoke to you? How can you use it to get out of your dream funk?

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15 thoughts on “When Your Dream Wears You Out”

  1. These are SO great! I’ll be sharing for sure! Jeff Goins and Christine Caine’s quotes speak to a topic I’ve been pondering lately… XO

    Reply
    • I didn’t really think about how those two are related, but you are so right! We wait until we can comfortably afford to pay for help, when God might want us to put ourselves in a place where only He can provide for that need.

      Reply
  2. Lisa Bevere’s quote got to me, Christa. If we are truly unique (and we are), then why do we constantly look around to see if we measure up to what everyone else is doing. God has given me a a life not duplicated. It’s not my ideal, but it is His for me.
    Thank you for sharing these inspiring words. ?

    Reply
  3. This is a great list, Christa.
    My favorite: Most people quit right before the inflection point. The prize goes to the people who are sticking with it. ~ Michael Hyatt
    That’s why I’m chipping away at my goals one day at a time. I’ve blogged regularly for a full year now, and I can see huge results just from sticking with it.

    Reply
  4. Such inspirational quotes, and you’re right! It’s so easy to let the dream make us tired. I’m reminded of the verse: “. . . in due season we shall reap — if we don’t lose heart!”

    Reply
  5. Hi Christa,
    Enjoyed reading these quotes and your thoughts about dream-chasing. It’s not an easy journey but I loved what you said about remembering what God has already answered and inspired in you, along the way so far!

    Reply
  6. Thank you, thank you, Christa, for sharing these quotes! Just yesterday, while on a date with my husband, I shared with him some of the well-intentioned but ultimately hurtful things our friends and family had said to me concerning my dream and my call. I hadn’t even realized how much those comments had been weighing on my soul! I am going to do my best to brush those comments aside and focus on these quotes instead. Thank you!

    Reply
  7. Just what I needed right now! I love many of the quotes, but the Mother Teresa one stood out to me. I’ve been praying for clarity and not getting any, and just this morning I wrote down this quote by Dallas Willard: “I’ve learned not to worry about whether or not this is going to work. I know it does not have to work, but I am sure that it will work if God has something He really wants me to know or do. This is ultimately because I am sure how great and good He is.”

    Reply
  8. Such great quotes, Christa! And I love the notebook idea. I have one of those, too. It was AJ who taught me to have an ‘experience journal’ to jot down notes, quotes, ideas and more.
    The quote that really stuck out to me today was “God has called you to do something that has never been done before. So stop looking around. ~Lisa Bevere”. I have just been nominated to lead Women’s Ministry at my church and I go from overwhelmed, to anxious to excited…but I Know He has prepared me for this – to do something new with and for the women at my church.
    Thanks for linking up with Grace and Truth.

    Reply

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