Dare to believe your dream. When it seems the devil has shattered that dream that came to you from God Himself, reach down, pick up those shattered pieces, put the dream back together, and continue to drive for success.

A dream becomes a reality because somebody wants it to be. It becomes a reality because somebody dares to dream a dream. They dare to believe in that dream. And they set out to make that dream become a reality.

We don't have electric lights today just because a man was walking along and stubbed his toe. No, we have electricity because a man said one day, "Electricity is real. It's a real substance. I believe I can harness it for the use of mankind." He set out to do the job, and he invented the electric light bulb.

In the process, his dream was destroyed hundreds of times. Every time Thomas A. Edison would start and give up, out of the depths and resources of his inner being something would say, "There is a substance—there is a material—that can take electricity and give it illumination, and it will benefit mankind."

Edison did not let go of his dream no matter how many times it was shattered. Because he kept dreaming that dream, you and I today enjoy the advantages of the electric light bulb. Thomas A. Edsion had dreamed a dream.

A famous Olympic athlete was another man who dreamed a dream and wouldn't let go.

In the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, a young American runner came off the last corner of the last event in the decathlon championship—and as the television cameras zeroed in on him, I could almost feel the agony etched in his face.

Bill Toomey had overcome every kind of adversity to get to that point. He had long dreamed of winning the decathlon, which consists of 10 track and field events divided into a two-day period.

For this last event, he had to run in cold rain in Mexico City's high altitude. (Anyone who knows anything about track and field knows that the worst possible time to run is on cold, wet days, because the muscles don't get warmed up sufficiently. They tear, pull, and cramp. I've been there. I know what I'm talking about.)

On this final day of the decathlon, Bill Toomey already had participated in nine of the 10 most grueling events in the Olympic games. He said, "I have not come this far to give up or quit now."

As he lined up for the one-mile race, his body was saying, "You can't do it! You can't run anymore! You've had it!"

But way back in the inner-resources of his mind was the dream he had dreamed for years and years: winning the decathlon. And when the starter cracked the gun, Bill Toomey took off running. One lap. Two laps. Three laps. Then he was finishing the race.

I know that he was feeling as he came off that last corner, headed for the home stretch. I know what it's like to feel every muscle in your body scream, "You can't force me anymore! I can't go on anymore!" I know what it's like to feel your lungs burn from lack of oxygen, but you press on, because you have a dream of winning.

When the TV cameras zeroed in, I could see the agony in every muscle in his body as he was coming down that last hundred or so yards toward the final tape. His muscles began to tense. I could see it in his face. I could see it in the flailing of his arms—but he kept his eyes fastened on the finish line.

I could see him begin to go a little faster, even though his physical body was screaming, "Quit man! You don't have anything left!"

But there was something on the inside of him—a dream that had lived there for years—that kept telling him, "You can't quit now. You've practiced long. You've run too many miles."

As he reached back and spend the last bit of energy he had, I could see that drive as it began to pump adrenaline through his body. He exploded across the finish line.

Why? Because he had had a dream, and it was still down on the inside of him, and he would not let anything steal that dream from him.

Bill Toomey graced the winner's stand, and they placed the decathlon gold medal around his neck. His perseverance had made his dream come true!

Source: How To Make The Dream God Gave You Come True
by Kenneth Hagin, Jr.
Excerpt permission granted by Faith Library Publications