Don't Dream Your Dreams Away



photo © 2011 by Robert Linder

You’re cradling a phone to your ear, half-listening to the automatic machine play some unknown music from the sixties while you’re still on hold. In fact, it seems that every time you call this person, you’re on hold. Ugh! Frustrated, you return the phone to its receiver, thinking to yourself that you could have already had a load of laundry washed, dried, and folded during all the time you’ve wasted waiting for that person to pick up.

Most of us know what it feels like to be on hold, doodling on a pad of paper and writing our names in every font possible until either that person answers or we get tired of waiting and give up. But even more than having to wait on the natural things in life, it seems enormously harder to wait on those things that are close to our hearts. Dreams push us forward, catapulting us into a world that we might have otherwise never considered possible. They give us purpose, motivation, and above all, joy. However, many of us abort our dreams before God even has the chance to birth a miracle simply because we’re too impatient to stick it out.
 

A pilot, surgeon, athlete, singer, carpenter, mechanic, and musician—these are just a few of the dreams we have. However, even more than an occupation, some may dream of a restored relationship with a parent or child, a weeklong cruise to Alaska, or even a quiet night with their spouse away from the kids! Whatever your dream may be, one thing will always be certain: with God, all things are possible.

While we may think we know the destiny for our lives, we must remember the words of Proverbs16:9 which says, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” Make sure your dream is, in fact, from God. Seek the Lord through prayer, and find out if your dreams line up with His Word. If it does, then you can be certain that God will bless it, no matter what opposition comes your way. If you feel like you are still struggling to find God’s plan for your life, then don’t hesitate to ask Him.

Next step is this: pull out the kneepads and pray, pray, pray. And when you’re finished praying, pray some more. First of all, make sure your motives are pure and what you’re waiting on God for lines up with His Word. Is it rooted in your desire to give God the glory or for your own self-gratification?

It’s just like the phone call example. Sometimes even when we’re right in the middle of God’s will, there’s a waiting time. It’s not a bad thing. It’s not something to be despised. It’s just something that we have to go through in order to receive God’s harvest for our lives. But I’d like to pose another question: What if you’re calling the wrong “phone number” and are waiting needlessly? See, it’s so easy to feel a burning desire in your heart and in your own mind make every justification for it in the world, saying it has to be from God because of such-and-such reason (and you all know you’re as guilty as I am when it comes to this). The last thing God wants is for one of His children to venture out into an unknown land thinking they’ve heard from Him to do it and then get hurt. Just always pray for God’s timing in your life. And if you know for sure that God’s calling you to do something, then trust Him and go for it. He’ll always provide.

Know this: when you have a dream that has been planted in your heart by God, then there will likely be people sent to try to destroy it. And those people will using come in that waiting season, planting seeds of doubt until they’ve talked you out of God’s will for your life entirely. However, let your confidence and self-worth lie in God instead of other people’s opinions about you, and your dreams will survive whatever opposition comes your way—no matter how long the wait. 

Psalms 25:3 says, “Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed . . . ” Romans 5:5 tells us, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” These are only two of the many verses in the Bible that can encourage you to move forward toward your dreams and to use the waiting season as a time to draw closer to God, trusting Him that He will bring it into your life at the right time.