Dream On!

Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope. – Ephesians 3:20

God’s church, which is the body of Christ and the temple of the Holy Spirit, has been working on this earth for just short of 2000 years. So why hasn’t the message of Christianity been spread and demonstrated and accepted in every corner of the globe long before now? I’m sure there are many factors, but I’m convinced that one of the major reasons is something that may surprise you.

Lack of faith? That’s certainly a problem – few Christians take the time and effort to build and use the faith God gave each of us. Lack of prayer? If anything is more important than what I have in mind, prayer would be it. But I’m thinking of something else.

Perhaps the biggest reason the church has not reached its potential, perhaps the biggest reason most Christians never reach their potential, is the failure to do one simple thing: dream.

Moses dreamed of delivering his people from slavery. Nehemiah dreamed of rebuilding the demolished city of Jerusalem. Esther dreamed of saving her people from genocide. Paul dreamed of spreading Christianity throughout the Roman Empire.

What would have happened if they never had those dreams? What would have happened if they never followed through on them?

I want you to especially notice one thing, because this is the part that surprised me when I realized it. None of those were things that God specifically told them to do. Moses, Nehemiah, Esther and Paul dreamed up those things by themselves.

I’m not saying that God was opposed to what they did. In fact, God wanted those dreams to be fulfilled. My point is that those four, and countless others throughout history, didn’t just sit around waiting for God to tap them on the shoulder. They were close enough to God that they would not dream of doing things for selfish reasons or against God’s will. But they were free enough to follow their dreams.

(Yes, I know God appeared to Moses in a burning bush, but that was after Moses already tried to rescue his people in his own power. I know God called Paul to be a missionary, but it seems that it was pretty much up to Paul where he went – only once is it recorded that he was called to a specific place. There is no indication of any kind of divine commissioning for Nehemiah and Esther.)

Jesus said, “I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends” (John 15:15). God doesn’t want you to think of working for him, like an employee. God wants you to think of working with him, like a friend.

In other words, don’t sit around waiting for God to say, “Go do this job for me.” Instead, God says, “I have all kinds of important projects going on. I’m educating children. I’m fighting hunger and poverty and disease. I’m importing some of the beauty of heaven to earth, in art and music and craftsmanship. I’m expanding freedom and justice. I’m rescuing and protecting and defending people. I’m making goods and services available to make people’s lives easier. I’m doing all kinds of things, all over the world. I’d love to have you work with me. What sounds interesting?”

One of the great characteristics of God is that God is creative. God made you in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). That means God made you creative. Creativity starts with a dream. So dream!

I believe one of the main jobs of a church, and of a pastor in particular, is to encourage and help the people of God to dream God-size dreams and then carry them out. We have not always done a good job of that, and the world is the worse for it. But it’s never too late to start.

What is your dream?

Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” You can never dream bigger than God can fulfill. You may not get to see it through to completion – somebody said, “The only things worth doing take more than a lifetime.” But if you don’t get it started, who will?

Dreaming with you for God’s kingdom,

David