On our recent cruise, I read a book entitled The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. It was about a shepherd boy’s adventures as he followed his dreams across the world in search of a hidden treasure. The book is an encouragement to all to find our personal calling, God’s blessing, the path He has ordained for us to follow. This is the thing that fills us with enthusiasm. The thing we are most exited about doing, no matter how far out of reach or how far removed from our current life situation it may seem.
“It is what you have always wanted to accomplish. Every one, when they are young, knows what their Personal Legend is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible, they are not afraid to dream, and to year for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their Personal Legend.”
Coelho proposes that sadly, most people never follow their own personal legend. Over time, we come to forget the words of Ephesians 5:15 15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity. In his introduction, he gives 4 reasons why. The first, he says, is the phenomenon of being told by others that our legend or dream is impossible. Over time, our legend becomes so deeply covered by these lies that it actually becomes invisible. I am reminded of the statement Darla talked about in our Wednesday night WOW meeting a few weeks ago: “You must know who you are before you can know who you want to be.” Many times, we don’t even have a chance to hurdle any other obstacle to accomplishing our personal legend because it is to deeply buried to even be realized.
If we are successful enough to clear the first hurdle and can identify our dream, we are soon faced with the second hurdle: love. The fear of hurting those around us actually hinders us from accomplishing this dream. The reality is that love should be a catalyst toward this dream not a hindrance. Those who are genuine in their love for us are willing to join us on the journey and along the way; many times our love will actually grow stronger.
The third hindrance is fear. Fear of failure, fear of opposition along the away, fear of sacrificing more than is generally acceptable and then not accomplishing our dream. We all too quickly forget that suffering is a necessary part of the journey. Suffering brings joy and each day becomes a challenge to fight the good fight. We have all been in the dreaded place in our life journey when we find that it is through suffering that we realize the greatest intimacy with Christ.
The fourth obstacle is the fear of actually realizing the dream we have fought so hard for. Many become guilty of actually getting what they want. The reality is that when we believe we are worthy of our personal legend we realize that every second of the search is an encounter with God. It is in this moment that we become that vessel that He has always wanted us to be.
I am reminded once again that the God we serve indeed has a plan for each of us. It is all too easy to get caught up in the grind of everyday life and forget the longing of our hearts. When we emailed our friends to let them know we were moving home for Justin to attend Law school, we had more than one friend email us back to confess they knew in their hearts, they were not where God wanted them to be. Friends that we had pegged as extremely successful with lives that were on track. But, their hearts said they had missed their calling.
The good news? It’s never too late to turn toward our personal legend. We can think like Job in verse 17:11 when he says , “My days have passed, my plans are shattered, and so are the desires of my heart.” Or, choose to claim the words of Jer. 29:11 “11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope”.
If there is anything missing, anything you believe that God has asked you to do with your life, its never too late! He longs for us to walk, out in the path He has ordained for each of us to follow. He longs to capture our whole hearts so that we can realize our Personal Legend.
Tags: Inspire, Personal Legend, The Alchemist
