When you think of Saint Patrick\u2019s Day, you likely think of shamrocks or sporting green, but Patrick\u2019s life was full of drama and adventure rather than luck and leprechauns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Patrick was 16, he was captured by Irish raiders and taken from his homeland (possibly Britain), and sold as a slave to a chieftain in Ireland. (And you thought your teenage years were rough.) For over six years, he worked as a shepherd. While roaming the hills, he turned to God for comfort, becoming a devout Christian. Then, one day, in a dream, God told Patrick it was time to leave Ireland. So Patrick walked nearly 200 miles to the coast where he boarded a ship and escaped to Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After returning home, Patrick had another dream, in which an angel told him he was to go back to Ireland as a missionary to the people who held him captive. And Patrick went.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s easy to be inspired by others\u2019 accomplishments rather than by the journey they took to get there.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Today, Patrick is credited with popularizing Christianity among the Irish. He started schools and churches that impacted literacy rates as well as the spirituality of the Irish. He taught that women and men were equal in God\u2019s eyes, and some sources say he kept the Sabbath. His life made an astonishing impact for the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God puts ambitions in everyone\u2019s hearts. Nehemiah rebuilt the temple. Moses freed his people. Paul took the gospel to the Gentiles. You probably have a big dream too. Maybe you\u2019ve been working on it for quite some time. Your question right now may be, How can I live my life selflessly for God?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we\u2019re wondering if our dreams will ever become a reality, it\u2019s easy to be inspired by others\u2019 accomplishments rather than by the journey they took to get there. Moses spent forty years as a shepherd before freeing a single slave. Paul spent three years thinking and studying in the Arabian desert before writing the majority of the New Testament. Jesus Himself spent years woodturning before He turned water into wine. And Patrick spent 15 years at a monastery in France before returning to Ireland to liberate his previous captors with the gospel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes you have to go to France before you can go to Ireland. Sometimes you have to work as a shepherd before you\u2019re ready to tend God\u2019s dreams for you. If you\u2019re in a preparation season, don\u2019t run away from it. Instead, be present and faithful, for \u201cin due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart\u201d (Galatians 6:9).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When you think of Saint Patrick\u2019s Day, you likely think of shamrocks or sporting green, but Patrick\u2019s life was full of drama…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-article"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Patrick_the_Patron_Saint_of_Dreamers.jpg?fit=2560%2C1440&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paAh8r-3zH","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13745"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13745\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15487,"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13745\/revisions\/15487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13745"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lightbearers.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}