Daily Hope with Rick Warren

We don’t know why God sent Jesus when he did, but we do know his timing was perfect.

Remember, to fulfill a dream, you need a team, and when you pursue a dream, you’ll always find opposition. When you understand these two facts about dream-building, you’ll be better equipped to fulfill God’s plan for your life.

Here are Nehemiah’s final two steps that you can follow in developing your own life plan.

Here are three more steps Nehemiah modeled that can also help you develop a life plan.

Nehemiah’s plan for getting to Jerusalem gives you seven steps for developing a life plan. Here are the first two:

The darkest days of your past will shine like the dawn. Streams will spring up in the wasteland of your pain. Hallelujah! This is what Jesus offers to you today when you submit to him and his dream for your life.

God's dream for your life is still in full force. It doesn't matter if you’ve been working on it for years, or you’re getting started on it a little later in life. It's never too late to get God's dream.

Part of God’s dream for your life is that you help people, not just through your gifts and strengths but also through your pain.

When you give him your life, God will work to make all the pieces fit together so that your whole life serves his purposes on earth.

Everyone has failures. But how you respond to failure can set you apart. As a follower of Jesus, repent of your sin; then encourage other believers in their faith, showing them how to be obedient to God’s Word.

God’s dream focuses your energy so that you can run straight to the goal he has set for you. When you run with that kind of effort, you won’t waste a second of your life.

Choose your dream wisely. A dream based on God’s vision for your life will make a difference in how well you live out your purpose. And it will also point others to God and his plan, the only way to find fullness of life.

When you surrender your plans and dreams to God so that he can give you his plans and dreams for your life, you need to be prepared to walk through a door when he opens it. So choose to get ready today.

When you have to choose between your dream and the dream you know God has given you, always choose God’s plan. God’s dream for your life is always good. It will never harm you. It’s going to give you great hope and a wonderful future!

Maybe you’re in what looks like an impossible situation right now. Look to God and rely on his promises, and watch your situation move from impossible to possible—and then to done.