Don't Abandon Your Dream

Dreams can die in the desert. That's the powerful lesson from Kermit the Frog's journey in the original 1979 Muppet Movie—and it might just be the message you need to hear today.
Remember when Kermit's Studebaker broke down in the middle of nowhere? His friends were counting on him, his dream seemed impossible, and quitting felt like the only sensible option. That moment of crisis—when Kermit's conscience appeared to remind him of his purpose—mirrors our spiritual journeys with striking clarity. We all face desert moments when our God-given dreams feel too difficult to pursue.
What makes these desert moments so significant is the profound truth that there are people on the other side of your obedience who need what only you can provide. Your dream was never just about you. 
Today, consider what dream you might be abandoning in your desert. What purpose has God placed within you that feels too difficult to pursue? Take courage from Kermit's story and remember—just beyond your moment of crisis, new resources and companions may be waiting to help you complete the journey. Don't give up on doing good. Your harvest of blessing—and someone else's—depends on it.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:10):
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right.
I am Danny Mac and I'm going tobe here every Monday to Friday
to help you get a great start toyour day.
So grab your cup of coffee, sitback and relax for the next
five minutes as I help you startyour day by starting right.
Ok, when was the last time yousaw the Muppet movie?

(00:37):
I'm not talking about theMuppets Take Manhattan or the
Muppet Christmas Carol.
I'm talking about the originalMuppet movie made in 1979.
The very first one that hadKermit with his dream to go to
Hollywood and to make a moviethat would make millions of
people happy.
Do you remember that movie?
It was a long time ago.
I know Every one of the Muppetcharacters are in this movie,

(01:01):
but it starts out just withKermit deciding he's going to
take this trip to Hollywood tofulfill his dream.
So he gets his buddy Fozzie andthey get an old Studebaker and
they start traveling.
As they're traveling, they'regathering friends, adding more
and more to their car all thetime, and soon the car is so
full they couldn't possibly getanyone else in it.
They all want to go toHollywood and be part of seeing

(01:22):
Kermit's dream come true.
But then there's the scenewhere the Studebaker breaks down
.
They're out in the middle ofthe desert.
They don't know what to do,they don't know where to go from
that point in time.
And Kermit has this epiphanymoment for himself, this time,
where he's wandering through thedesert, feeling sorry for
himself, feeling discouraged,wanting to quit, thinking all is

(01:43):
lost and that he needs to goback home.
And as he's talking to himself,walking through the desert,
there is another Kermit thatappears.
It's like it's his consciencethat starts to talk back to him
when he's saying all thenegative things.
And so when Kermit says it wasa stupid dream, anyway, I don't
want to do it his consciencetells him it's not a stupid

(02:04):
dream.
There are still people thatneed to laugh and to smile and
to be happy.
And you can do it.
Don't lose sight of it.
Kermit goes oh, I can't, Ican't get there.
Look what I've done.
I've disappointed my friends,I've disappointed myself.
All my friends started to comealong with me and be a part of
this, and now we're broken downin the middle of the desert.
We'll never get there.
It'll never happen.

(02:25):
We just need to give up andturn around and go back home.
We'll start hitchhiking in themorning.
Well, his conscience says no,your dream is still very, very
important.
There are people who need yourdream to come true, because they
need what your dream will giveit's.
At that point Kermit returns tocamp to find a bunch of new

(02:47):
friends with a bus that they canall get on and continue their
trip to Hollywood and to fulfillhis dream.
That conversation between Kermitand his conscience is a lot
like our walk with God sometimes.
You know, god has placed ideasand dreams and purposes inside
of us.
We get these great ideas ofwhat we can do and what we can

(03:07):
be and what we can become.
We want to sing in the choir.
We want to teach a Bible study.
We want to work with kids.
We want to start a feedingprogram for the poor.
We want to do some outreachministry to be able to let
people know about who Jesus is.
We want to start a ministrythat will help couples to be
strong or help parents to knowwhat it means to be parents and
help to raise their kids.
We want to do.

(03:28):
We want to do.
We have these dreams andpurposes that God has placed
inside of us and we start out sogood and so strong, but
somewhere along the way we runinto a real rough patch where
things aren't going the way theyshould and all of a sudden it's
not as easy as it was beforeand we have to try to decide
what we're going to do.
That is the important time, thedefining time of who we really

(03:54):
are.
Paul reminds us of this in thebook of Galatians, chapter 6 and
verse 9.
He says let us not get tired ofdoing what is good, because at
just the right time we will reapa harvest of blessing if we
don't give up.
I once heard it said there arepeople on the other side of your
obedience that need what youare going to do.

(04:16):
The problem is we don't alwaysunderstand or know who those
other people are.
But whatever we do in obedienceto what God's asked us to do,
there are people on the otherside of that obedience that need
that in their lives.
It's not just about us.
Nothing is ever just about us.
It's about how we can impactother people and influence other

(04:38):
people for Jesus Christ, andour greatest impact comes when
we are consistently obedient towhat he has for us.
Can I encourage you not to giveup on that purpose or on that
dream, to continue to followthrough with it, to work on it,
because there are people on theother side of that dream, on the
other side of that purpose, onthe other side of your obedience

(05:00):
, that need what you are aboutto do and what you are about to
accomplish.
Have a great day, my friends.
We'll talk again tomorrow.
Thank you for listening todayand I invite you to join me

(05:20):
Monday to Friday, right here onStarting Right, with Danny Mac.