Chase the Lion: If Your Dream Doesn't Scare You, It's Too Small

by Mark Batterson

You are one idea, one risk, one decision away from a totally different life. Of course, it’ll probably be the toughest decision you ever make, the scariest risk you ever take. But if your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small.

God honors big dreams because big dreams honor God.

If your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small. It also falls short of God’s glory by not giving Him an opportunity to show up and show off His power.

The mighty men were drawn to a dreamer with a God-sized dream. And that’s what will draw people to you.

One footnote: your legacy isn’t just your God-sized dreams. It’s also your small acts of kindness.

things that happen to you that you cannot control and things you make happen that you can control. Of course, even if something is out of your control, you still control your reaction. You might not be responsible, but you are response-able. And it’s the ability to choose your response that will likely determine your destiny.

What we perceive as positive sometimes turns out to have negative side effects, and what we perceive as negative often turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to us.

Every act of kindness creates a ripple effect.

If you want God to do something beyond your ability, try giving beyond your means.

I don’t believe in coincidence, not if you are living a Spirit-led life. I believe in Providence. I believe in a sovereign God who is ordering your footsteps, preparing good works in advance, and making all things work together for good. Of course, some things won’t make sense until we cross the space-time continuum and enter eternity. In the meantime don’t worry about meeting the right person. Focus on becoming the right person. If you keep doing the right things day in and day out, God will hold up His end of the bargain!

If you don’t have a dream, keep learning while you’re waiting. Get into God’s Word, and God’s dream will get into you.

But if you want God to do something new, you can’t keep doing the same old thing. What do you need to stop doing today? What do you need to start doing today?

change of pace + change of place = change of perspective.

More often than not, what we perceive as a no is really a not yet.

God has called you, you aren’t really doubting yourself. You’re doubting God. God doesn’t call the qualified. God qualifies the called.

Gratitude is thanking God after He does it. Faith is thanking God before He does it.

Sometimes you need to stop praying for something and start praising God as if it has already happened. Isn’t that what the Israelites did when they marched around Jericho? God didn’t say, “I will deliver it into your hands”—future tense. He said, “I have delivered it”—present perfect tense. In other words, it had already been accomplished in the spiritual realm. All they had to do was circle Jericho until God delivered on His promise.

The lessons learned were too valuable.

If you stay patient and persistent, God is going to come through for you. You’ll look back on this season with fond memories because they forged faith in you. So keep on keeping on. The best is yet to come.

I want to be famous in my home.2 And by the way, it’s hard to be famous in your home if you’re never home.

It’s the love of God that sets us free from the spirit of fear. When you know that God loves you no matter what, you’re not afraid to fail, because you know that God will be right there to pick you up if you fall down.

You’ll never be ready. The issue isn’t readiness; it’s willingness.

Faithfulness is taking back enemy territory by shining light in dark places.

At the end of our lives, our greatest regrets won’t be the mistakes we made. It’ll be the opportunities we left on the table.

When it comes to difficult circumstances, you have two choices. You can complain about them, or you can make the most of them.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, your dream is contingent upon someone else having the courage to pursue his or her dream.

God-sized dreams require more risk, more sacrifice, and more faith.

God is working His good, pleasing, and perfect plan for your life in a thousand ways you aren’t even aware of. Everything in your past is preparation for something in your future. God wastes nothing! Even when you have a setback, God has already prepared your comeback. The God who works all things together for good will leverage every experience, every skill, every mistake, and every bit of knowledge you have acquired.

your goal is fame, good luck. Even if you achieve it, you’ll realize that it’s as unfulfilling as fortune. You don’t need a bigger paycheck. You need a bigger why. Our chief end is to glorify God, and if your goal is to make famous the name of Jesus, good fortune will follow you all the days of your life and right into eternity!

Like happiness, destiny isn’t something you discover by seeking it. It’s a by-product. You don’t find it by looking for it. You find it by looking for God. Then your destiny finds you.

Destiny isn’t pie in the sky. Destiny is being faithful right where you are. The best way to land your dream job is to do a good job at a bad job and do it with a great attitude! Be like Christ. Be yourself. That’s your double destiny.

Every decision we make has a domino effect way beyond our ability to predict or control. We can’t predict when or where or how, but our seeds of faith will reap a harvest somehow, someway, someday. And it’s often when and where we least expect it.

Don’t seek opportunity; seek God, and opportunity will seek you.

I’ve discovered on this dream journey that when you follow Jesus, you go places that are off the grid and meet people who are out of your league.

“When we stand before God,” his mother said, “He won’t ask us if we’ve been successful. He’ll ask us if we’ve been faithful.”

Don’t worry about the things that have zero bearing on eternity! Your only regret at the end of the day will be the time, talent, and treasure you didn’t give back to God.