I’ve been a Christian since I was twelve. I surrendered to ministry at the age of seventeen. And since that time, I’ve been an active listener and dream catcher. God has invited me to jump into many of His ideas – I call them Big God Dreams.
I love being a part of God’s plan but lately, I have been involved in various forms of self-sabotage.
Sabotage:
Treacherous action to defeat or hinder a cause or an endeavor; deliberate subversion.
Yep, I’ve been disrupting those Big God Dreams by listening to that little negative voice in my head. The voice of doubt, fear, worry and selfishness.
Just brilliant.
So, I thought to myself: How rude of me to keep these super easy tips to myself. There must be loads of other people that are on the road to self-sabotage. I shall help them achieve their goals.
So here we go ~ notes from my life:
- When God asks you to do something, especially a big scary something, o-b-s-e-s-s on it. Plot, plan and wear yourself out. Make sure that you move that dream from God’s assignment to a list to things to do. Check off the boxes. Incessantly. Until it diminishes every super-natural aspect possible.
- Expect this Big God Dream to happen instantaneously! As the weeks and months and years pass without the dream becoming a reality, assume that you misheard God. And then assume that God would never sketch out dreams that big for a nobody like you.
- If you happen to make it past #1 and #2, pray about it but do not take any further steps to follow God’s lead. Especially when the plan takes turns you were not expecting: Be safe! Do nothing! Just become a super-amazing-spiritual person that talks about Big God Dreams but never, ever lives them out. Simply strangle the dream with religiosity.
- If you happen to release the stranglehold, make sure that you start comparing your God assignment to any and every project and person you can find. Read up online. Compare where you are in process with people that are further down the line. Take note of anyone with a larger platform, a bigger ‘fan’ base.
- Keep track. Calculate how much time and energy is expended, then develop an attitude. Get entitled about where you are and where you think you should be. Get good and angry about it and then …
- Forget entirely that God planted the dream and that it’s His. Forget who you are and why you’re here. Discard that notion that God’s plans for your life have been laid out – and paid out – in advance.
Ta-da! 6 ways to successfully sabotage yourself!
So … have I missed anything? How have you sabotaged your Big God Dream?
10 Quick Ways to Sabotage Your Marriage
… what’s your Big God Dream?
Five Steps to Following Your Heart
Vocation: Relationship
I’m sorry…..have you been eavesdropping in my head? But I go almost immediately from obsessing to keeping track and getting angry because I expect God to have fulfilled that dream yesterday. Also, I have taken the whole religiosity thing straight through–beginning at #1 and going way past #6! It helps to keep the attitude going as well. That way none of your godly friends will approach you because you are spoiling for a fight! If we keep going this way, I may be able to quench the Holy Spirit so well that He will stop bugging me. Sounds an awful lot like Satan’s plan! Thanks for the thought provoking post.
I love your posts. I love the pics, recipes and pithy comments on life , but I really, really love when you talk about God and how to live my life with a God centered view point. You coined it “Lifestyle Theology” and when you write about it I drink it up.
… and you make me smile. Thank you for the encouragement. And wow, I had completely forgotten about ‘Lifestyle Theology.’ Yep. That’s it. Much love and peace. :)
Nothing like getting hit upside the head by a post! :-) Thanks for this. I now have a new prayer list to go through (and by that I’m pretty sure I mean a ‘confessions list’!)
One other possible strategy for sabotage…talk to all your friends and gather lots and lots of opinions. Keep asking “What should I do?” even tho you already know what He has told you to do!
Oh,yes. Asking and asking. Been there, done that too.
I would put my sabotage with #2. I’m the exception – God would never give me big dreams. He gives important people Big God dreams, not me. Besides, what if He gave me a Big God Dream, then had to take it away? I don’t want to be too afraid to dream with God. I want to be right in the middle of His dreams for me.
Susie – You are so appreciated. Thank you for your post.