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By Barry Buzza
 Not long ago I was talking with a friend about my future hopes and dreams. He said to me, "I can't live in a fantasy world of maybe. I need to face the hard facts of life as they really are. Your visions are really only dreams-they can pop as easily as a balloon floating in a rose garden. How do you know that God wants those things for you?"
I thought about what my friend said to me.
"Do I really live in a fantasy world?"
"Are my visions for the future really only dreams?"
"Shouldn't I be more realistic about life?"
After much consideration, I wrote some notes about the way I see life. There are seven steps to the process:
1. Dream big.
2. Envision my preferred future
3. Come back to reality.
4. Strategize.
5. Plan.
6. Work hard.
7. Let God order my steps.
Although I hadn't listed those seven stages that I follow, I've come to see that it's the way I've ordered my life for the past half century. And so far it's working.
Dream big -- Joseph was a dreamer. Although he was the youngest brother of eleven (Benjamin was born sometime later), he dreamed of the day that he would be the leader of his family. Everyone else would bow before him. It wasn't that Joseph was an ego-maniac, rather he held to a God-given dream and he would not let his present circumstances deflate it.
Envision -- A dream is just a dream. It gives us a picture of where we'd like to be one day. A vision is more concrete. Based on faith in God and a belief that nothing is impossible when we're under his guiding hand, we begin to see our preferred future as a real possibility. Our vision becomes our life target. It's where we aim our life journey.
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Reality check -- But we can't live in the future. We must live today. If we don't we will soon develop a dissatisfaction, even dislike for our present circumstances. We must look realistically at who we are, our gifts, our talents and our present circumstances. When we do that, we'll arrive at the place where fantasies (such as I used to dream as a boy that I could fly like Superman) and possibilities are quite different from one another.
Strategize -- Now is the time to begin strategizing how we will get from our present reality to our preferred future. What would have to happen before our visions could be fulfilled? I drew if like this:
Some things will happen only because of sovereign intervention. Others will happen because we've taken definite steps forward.
Plan -- Next I lay out a definite plan with objectives and goals. My goals will have a time table, a dollar value and will be achievable. Objectives are bigger, a little less definite, but set direction for the way I think, talk and live.
Diligence -- Work hard and work smart. I'll write more about this next week, because this is where, as Robert Burns wrote, "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men, gang aft a-gley."
Let God order my steps -- Without this seventh phase to my life journey, I'm in danger of becoming self-centered and self-deceived. Nobody knows for sure what the future holds. I've known great and godly visionaries who've seen clear pictures of their future, and had definite plans laid out to get there-but who've dropped dead long before those visions were fulfilled.
Solomon reminded us:
• Only God, our Creator, knows the future.
• He only, is qualified as our shepherd and guide.
• He knows better than we do what our true motives are.
• He promises success to those who trust him.
• He determines our day to day steps, regardless of how good and right our plans are.
Barry Buzza, www.barrybuzza.com a veteran pastor, is also the president of the The Foursquare Gospel Church of Canada. www.foursquare.ca
May 1/2008
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