Chasing Fantasies

“Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies have no sense” (Pr. 12:11).

When I was a kid, I had two dream careers in mind. The first was the real goal, and the second was a fallback in case the first didn’t pan out.

The primary goal was to be the starting shortstop for the Chicago Cubs. I spent hours upon hours playing in the yard, dreaming about and practicing for this goal. At the age of 10, my confidence was high, and my Little League success convinced me it was possible!

But looking back, I peaked as a baseball player at 10! I played at various levels for another 25 years (and still play church softball, despite having had both knee and shoulder surgeries), but after the age of 10 it was probably clear to everyone but me that I was a decent small town player but nowhere close to a big leaguer. My first dream career was not going to happen.

Good thing I had a backup plan! My fallback dream was to be the play-by-play radio broadcaster for the Chicago Cubs! The soundtrack of summer for my childhood was Cubs radio as they played day games during my backyard games. Thom Brennaman gave way as the primary radio broadcaster to Pat Hughes when I was 14, a change I was initially distraught over. But Pat very quickly won me over, and I was sure I could be ready for him to give way to me one day!

As it turns out, Pat is now a Hall of Famer and still calling the games more than 30 years later! To be very honest, he feels like a personal friend to me even though I have never met him, because his voice has now been a familiar one for much of my life. He is a Cubs legend and I don’t even resent the fact he never relinquished his hold on my fallback career!

In the end, both of my childhood career goals were fantasies. That is not to say they were bad aspirations—to the contrary, I think it is beneficial to have dreams and goals as a child—but they were always quite unlikely to come to fruition. This reality may have been somewhat veiled for me, but it was not lost on the God of the universe, who has been abundantly faithful to give me “land” to work. His ways and His thoughts have always been higher than my ways and my thoughts (Is. 55:8-9), and I am grateful for His patient guidance as I have imperfectly endeavored to walk in them.

What are your dreams today? And to be clear, your dream is not automatically a fantasy. Far from it! Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” This is far more than a promise that God will bring your dreams to reality. He certainly may do that, but this is more than that. This is a promise that the God of the universe will not be elusive as your desires are transformed to be in accordance with His and increasingly rooted in Him!

As your primary aspiration in life becomes one of delighting in the Lord, you will not need a fallback plan because you will find Him (Jer. 29:13-14)! You won’t be chasing a fantasy; you will be enthralled in the work that is bringing glory to your God! As if that weren’t enough, your God promises that through this work He will provide for you!

Don’t chase fantasies. Work the land God has given you!