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.

In every dream journey there comes a moment when you have to quit living as if the purpose of life is to arrive safely at death. You have to go after a dream that is destined to fail without divine intervention.

At the end of our lives, our greatest regrets will be the God-ordained opportunities we left on the table, the God-given passions we didn’t pursue, and the God-sized dreams we didn’t go after because we let fear dictate our decisions.

Most people believe God is real, but few people actually live like it. The result is a widening gap between their theology and their reality. They allow their circumstances to get between them and God instead of letting God get between them and their circumstances.

The problem with that is this: you can do nothing wrong and still do nothing right.

If you’re looking for an excuse, you’ll always find one. If you’re looking for an opportunity, you’ll always find one.

The best way to discover your dream is to help other people accomplish theirs!

The size of your dream may be the most accurate measure of the size of your God.

A God-sized dream will always be beyond your ability, beyond your resources.

repent of your small dreams and your small God.

dare to go after a dream that is bigger than you are.

When Jesus walked out of the tomb on the third day, the word impossible was deleted from our dictionary.

Fix your eyes on the Lion of the tribe of Judah.

The impossible is temporary.

Repent of unbelief in the possibility of your dream!

Movie about dreaming. It’s a plan (blue print for the dream)

“A dream within a dream within a dream—is that even possible?”3

That ability to imagine is unique to His image bearers.

Imagination is God’s gift to you.

It was a divine invitation to explore, to adventure, to discover, to dream.

Adam and Eve were commissioned by God to subdue planet Earth.

He implants dreams deep within the human spirit, three levels

down.

He saw a shepherd boy. Nothing more, nothing else.6

Samuel saw something else, something more.

At critical junctures they believed in me more than I believed in myself.

You never know when or where or how destiny will knock on your door, but it rarely has a scheduled appointment.

What turned these ragtag rebels into a band of brothers who would risk their lives for what seemed like a lost cause?

David’s dream became their dream, a dream within a dream.

the domino effect of your dreams will be felt for generations.

Your greatest legacy isn’t your dream. Your greatest legacy is the next generation of dreamers that your dream inspires—the dreams within a dream.

Our dreams predate us.

Our dreams postdate us.

as a spiritual father.

spiritual grandson.

“Come share your dream with us, and let us help you fulfill it.”

Honor your upline!

the church belongs in the middle of the marketplace.

We need fewer commentators and more innovators.

criticize by creating.

Everything God does in and through National Community Church is a prayer within a prayer.

We are reaping where we have not sown.

always have a mental stop, never average losers, and let go of mistakes you made three seconds ago.

stay in the game for as long as you can.

If you want to live an epic life, you have to overcome some epic challenges. You have to take some epic risks, make some epic sacrifices.

Mismanaged success is the leading cause of failure. Well-managed failure is the leading cause of success.

One of the best ways to discover your destiny is to study your history. The seeds of your dreams are often buried in your memory, three levels down.

We start dying the day we stop dreaming. And ironically, we start living the day we discover a dream worth dying for.

Don’t underestimate the power of one compliment.

We tend to avoid situations where the odds are against us, but when we do, we rob God of the opportunity to do something supernatural.