Do you know the difference between dreamers and doers? Dreamers have brilliant ideas about how to shape and influence the world. They may have a great idea for a new invention, product or ministry. They have passion, they have drive, but ultimately many dreamers fizzle out because they are never able to get out of the dream stage. So again, I ask, do you know the difference between dreamers and doers? …A well thought out plan.

Most dreams die on the drawing board, not the launch pad, because dreamers seldom ever take the time necessary to develop a strategy to see their dream become a reality. They imagine what it would be like if they had a certain budget, or enough folks, or the right kind of equipment but they never sit down and assemble a plan to get there. Rather than estimating costs, assembling a budget, and pulling others on board,  the dream dies because nothing substantial ever gets put down on paper, much less in the hands of someone who can help make the dream a reality.

And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ graves, that I may rebuild it.” And the king said to me (the queen sitting beside him), “How long will you be gone, and when will you return?” So it pleased the king to send me when I had given him a time. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, let letters be given me to the governors of the province Beyond the River, that they may let me pass through until I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph, the keeper of the king’s forest, that he may give me timber to make beams for the gates of the fortress of the temple, and for the wall of the city, and for the house that I shall occupy.” And the king granted me what I asked, for the good hand of my God was upon me. (Nehemiah 2:5-8 ESV)

Nehemiah has a specific plan. The king basically asks, “What do you plan to do?” and Nehemiah comes back with specific requests for letters of endorsement from the king. (Basically he asked for building permits and supplies to build the wall.) It’s important to note that if Nehemiah hadn’t already been thinking through about what the next steps would be that when he had such a huge opportunity he would have blown it by just sharing a dream.  It’s at this moment that having a plan ready to go is what turned Nehemiah into a doer and not just a dreamer.

Do you have dreams about the gospel impacting your school and your community? Do you imagine or dream that you could lead your lost friends to Christ? My next question for you is simple… What’s the plan?

• Map your Neighborhood
• Learn the Names of the Students in your Math Class
• Establish goals like meeting all of your neighbors, or learning who else is a Christian at school, or setting up a 501c3