dreamAre you a dreamer? Do you sit around and dream up wild ideas and possibly even write them down? What do you do with them then? Do you put them carefully on a shelf until you take time to sit around and dream some more? Do you listen to the voices that say, “There’s no way!” or “Dream on, sister!” or do you look for ways to make them go from paper to reality?

I  have a notebook I write quotes, scriptures and famous sayings in that speak to me.  Somewhere along the way, I penned this one about dreams.  Sadly, I don’t know who to credit with saying it:

If our history has limited our dreams then our dreams are inferior to God’s intentions. Our past is not supposed to determine the magnitude of our dreams. Our dreams are supposed to determine the magnitude of our future. The key to your future is you and the realization of the dream inside of you. You carry the hope for a better, brighter and grander future.”

What’s keeping you from pursuing your dream? Is it:

  1. You don’t have a dream. There’s one inside of you, whether you’ve given voice to it or not. If you can’t determine what it is, then grab some paper and pen and find a quiet place to sit with the Lord and dream big with Him.
  2. You’ve missed your opportunity to see if happen. Hogwash! Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven.” God knows your dream and He knows the perfect time for it to be realized. What does God have to do with? Well, uh, who do you think planted the dream in your heart?
  3. You’re scared. Well, who isn’t? Whenever we are facing something God has called us to, there’s almost always fear.  It’s because He calls us to do things that are beyond ourselves, thus making us dependent on Him. Do you think David wasn’t a little scared facing Goliath [1 Samuel 17] or Daniel wasn’t scared when he was thrown in the lion’s den [Daniel 6]? They might have been scared, but they were also courageous. God tells us over three hundred times in scripture not to fear, indicating we have a choice to either embrace fear or embrace courage. Ambrose Redmoon said, “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear.”
  4. You don’t have the resources to make it happen. It’s a good thing our dreams aren’t solely dependent on us to happen. If God gave you the dream, He will bring it about [1 Thessalonians 5:24]. And He happens to own EVERYTHING [Psalm 50:10]. Money will not be an issue. In His time and His way, it will happen unless we chose to walk away form Him and it. Then He’ll find someone else to carry it out and we will miss the opportunity to partner with Him.
  5. You don’t have any help. One with God is a majority! If you have Him on your side, you don’t need to worry about anyone else.  He’ll burden the hearts of those He’s called to come along beside you to make the dream a reality. Margaret Mead once said, ” Never doubt that a small group of concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed its the only thing that ever has.” Stop for a moment and consider what Jesus did with a band of twelve who were far from perfect, but willing.

For every excuse you can come up with, the Lord has a solution. You may have shoved the dream aside and forgotten it, but He hasn’t.  He’s been waiting on you to stop listening to the voice of the enemy and ask Him what He has to say about it. Why not pull that dream out and dust it off.  Take it to the Lord and ask Him what the next step needs to be, then be still and listen [Psalm 46:10, Jeremiah 33:3].

What’s your dream? What will you do TODAY to move it closer to a reality?