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Have You Ever Been a Little Scared of Advancing?

Brooke Lewis

As we head into the second half of 2025, I’m reminded of a moment from one of my all-time favourite movies, Tangled.

There’s this scene where Rapunzel—the absolute GOAT of Disney Princesses—is sitting in a boat, about to see her dream of the lantern festival finally come true. Eugene turns and asks her, “What’s wrong?”

“I’m scared,” she says, followed by the line that has stuck with me for years: “What if it’s not everything I dreamed it would be? …And what if it is? What then?”

I feel that.

There are times I look at the dreams in my heart and feel that same fear creeping in. What if I finally get there… and it’s not as I imagined? What if I’m disappointed?

Then there’s the other fear.
What if it is everything I dreamed?
What if it’s even better?
Then what? If I’ve spent years with this one vision in front of me… who am I without it?

The unknown can feel as scary as the disappointment. That’s why I loved when Pastor Peter said, “Advancement can expose the fear of not being enough or not having enough.”

That’s exactly what Rapunzel was feeling. She stood at the edge of a new season—the thing she had always wanted—and suddenly her fears surfaced.

Her dream had become a kind of safety net. Something to cling to. A reason to keep going.
And now… it was here. So… now what?

Cue Eugene’s perfect response: “Well, that’s the good part. You get to go find a new dream.”

That’s the thing with advancement—it’s not a moment, it’s a mindset.
It’s not an event. It’s a lifestyle.

As Rev Jesse Duplantis said, “Advancement is the key to the Christian life.”

God’s design for us is constant growth. We don’t just advance once—we keep advancing. In every area and at every level.

So if you’re feeling fear around your dream becoming reality—maybe you wonder whether you’ll be enough or what comes next—remember what Eugene said: You get to dream another dream.

What did David do once he became king? He planned the Temple.
What did Joseph do after becoming Prime Minister? He led a nation through famine.
What did Mary do after giving birth to Jesus? She raised Him.

They advanced, and then they advanced again.

So will you.
And when you do? You’ll dream another dream.