Week 4 – Chasing Your Dreams
Leader Guide
Have you grown weary working towards a dream? Maybe like Kurt Warner, you’ve been overlooked, underused, and feel as if you will never achieve your goal. Let's learn how we can apply Biblical truths to keep chasing our dreams and to remain content in the waiting.
What you will need: A Bible or your Bible app, a notebook, pen, and highlighter. The verses highlighted below are linked so that you can easily access them during your study time.
Jump Start
Leader: This section is designed to get discussions started, examine God’s truth, and apply it to our week. Life Group leaders should not assume everyone in their group is a Christ follower. Because they are taking part in a Life Group, they must have some openness to knowing more, exploring. Pray for the Holy Spirit to work and let Him lead you as well.
1. Have you purposefully modified or curtailed your dream because people told you it was too big or not worth achieving?
Leader’s Note: For example, I changed my major because my dad said it was a poor financial choice for a career. (But I went back to that major after one disastrous semester!)
2. Every dream has a price tag, including the dreams God has given you. Read Proverbs 24:27. What does this verse tell you to do—very practically—in your life? What is the hard work you have done (or need to do) to reach the next step in your goal?
Leader’s Note: We often want to reach the realization of the dream but are not willing to work hard in a dead-end job to get there. We want the payoff, not the long grind. We must make wise choices, put in the effort, and follow God. This creates a good foundation for our lives and goals, though we often forget God sometimes asks us to sacrifice before we reap the victory.
3. “Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do until you get to do what you wanna do.” Read Galatians 6:9. When is “enough” enough and it’s time to give up? How do you decide? Can doing the “right” thing ever get tough? What “mental weariness” is bearing down on you? (It’s different for each one of us.) Share it with your group and ask them to pray for you in that area.
Leader’s Note: This verse is specifically about getting tired when we are “doing good,” doing the right thing, obeying God. It’s talking about Biblical things—like loving our enemies, forgiving, or staying in a hard marriage. But we can also be weighed down with tiredness or boredom while we wait for our big break; impatience when God has us “on hold” or “in process;” weary due to grief or sadness. We can get angry with our situation and give up. If your group shares real mental needs, stop and pray!! Don’t wait until the end of your meeting.
4. Read Proverbs 21:31. How is this like “the Lord helps those who help themselves”? How is it very unlike that saying? Why does this type of thinking get us into trouble? What humble task (preparing the horse) might be your next step towards God’s plan for your life? How can your life experiences shape you into the person God wants in that next stage?
Leader’s Note: Yes, there are some things we should do; some things God asks us to do. But He does not ask or expect us to do it all. His help is not conditional on how hard we work, but on His love for us, His plans for us, and His perfect will. Don’t fall in the trap that if you try hard enough, God will agree with you and make it happen. Or that if you wait on His direction, He will feel you aren’t “doing your part.” He may ask you to take some steps, but the battle belongs to Him. He is the one who brings about victory, rescue, and results. Don’t be above the small task, the humble serving. Just as David kept sheep and Kurt finally went to arena football to provide for his family, God uses our experiences to make us into the person He needs us to be for the dream He has given us.
5. Read Psalm 109:30. In the middle of the trial, the long haul, or “the throng,” what positive thing can you do? Why is it an “out loud” action? How does Paul echo this in the New Testament? Read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18. What do you (personally) do to praise God amid your circumstances?
Leader’s Note: We can always be thankful to the Lord for His presence and the blessing He has given us. When the throng is all around, and particularly when they are spouting comments from a worldly mindset about your situation, it is good to praise God out loud. It makes a difference in you that you pray out loud, talking and remembering what He has done in the past, or thanking Him for being with you right then, in the middle of the crisis. When we live in joy (not just happiness based on our circumstances) and live constantly talking to God, thanking Him for His provision, we are in a place of peace, despite the circumstances.
6. Action Step: Do you have a God-given dream? How do you know it is from Him? Is Your priority God and His eternal kingdom, or are you hoping and striving for temporal things, maybe even contrary to His will? Ask God: Do I need to quit striving and wait on You? Do I need to double down and recommit to this path? Do I need to realign my will to Yours? Write down what you hear from God about your dreams, any changes He would have you make, or promises that He gives you.
Deeper
Leader: This section is designed for further use in your Life Group or for personal study. These can also be used as discussion points and ways to stay connected with your group throughout the week. Encourage your group to take time daily to walk through these questions.
If you are weary from pursuing what you believe is a God-given dream, take time to read the Scriptures below. Ask God to speak to you, comforting and encouraging your soul or revealing next steps.
On the other hand, you may can say with King David, that God has brought you through to a broad and pleasant place (Psalm 16:6, 18:19). If so, turn and help lift up your brother or sister still in the difficult place.
7. Look at the following verses and what they reveal to you about chasing your God-given dreams, encouraging others who are struggling and weary, and waiting on God.
• Isaiah 40:30-31: (LN: All humanity gets weary and exhausted. But the Lord will sustain and supernaturally empower the one who is waiting on His leading and following God’s will and plan.)
• Hebrews 12:1-2: (LN: Running a hard race, having endurance is a part of the Christian life. So is overcoming sin. But we have the very best example of continuing through all adversity and overcoming evil in our Lord, who focused on the joy and the eternal purpose to continue persevering.)
• James 1:2-4, 12: (LN: The trials and struggles benefit us, creating in us faith, steadfastness, and spiritual maturity. Once we have passed through the trials of this life, we also receive an eternal reward, the crown of life, for loving God and following Him, no matter what.)
• Proverbs 13:12: (LN: Even the strongest person (and the best, God-given dreams) can become heartsick while waiting for them to come to pass. Stay focused on God and keep casting the vision and hoping in Jesus.
• 1 Peter 1:20-21: (LN: when hope in your dream is running short, hope in Jesus. He is the reason for our hope and faith.)
• 1 Samuel 23:15-18: (LN: Though Jonathan didn’t know the whole plan, he knew enough to know that God was with David. He knew it was God’s will that David be the next king. So, he encouraged, supported, and committed his loyalty to David and to God. He “strengthened his hand in God.”)
• Hebrews 10:24-25: (LN: Christians should be committed to gathering, not only to worship God but to encourage each other to keep following, keep staying the course, keep loving, and keep doing good works.)