Growing God-sized Dreams

Thanks for all the prayer requests you left about changes in your lives. I've been praying for you and appreciating your prayers for me too. That post also brought to mind one I wrote for (in)courage in January so I wanted to share it again with you here...

 

The start of a year is a lot like a new journal—pages waiting to be filled, endless possibilities. It's a time for dreaming.   

And yet the more months that go by, it seems the harder dreaming gets to do.

A friend of mine and I were talking about some challenges we're facing and she said, "You know, I don't think I'll ever stop fighting...but I'm afraid I may stop dreaming."

She's not the only one.

That conversation reminded me that while dreaming comes naturally to children for grown-ups it's a choice. And it's not easy.

But it's worth it.

Because with God, dreaming is different. It's not pie-in-the-sky, pony-for-Christmas, be-a-princess-when-I-grow-up dreaming.

No, dreaming with Him is very much about reality.

All things are possible with God. Mark 10:27

I'm discovering that with God the hardest part is not making the dream a reality...it's keeping my heart open enough to let it happen.

You know what I mean, don't you? There are a thousand bricks in the walls that shut out our dreams...

I'm too busy.

I've been hurt before.

I could never do it.

We've put those bricks there for a reason—they protect us very well. 

Dreaming is risky.

God can do the impossible but I've found He hardly ever does it in the way or time we want. And when things don't go as we planned, well, it hurts.  

(But you know what? Regret hurts more.)

And past the hurt of unmet expectations, there comes the joy of the dream becoming reality. We do make it to the Promised Land eventually. And there's no better place to be than living in (or on the way to) the dream God has for you.

Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere. Psalm 84:10

I have another confession (anyone suprised?). I choked up several times while writing this post. Because this isn't fluff for me—it's where I am right now and some days it's just hard. But it's also an amazing adventure. And I still believe with all my heart God is going to come through for me...and He will for you too.

I dare all of us to keep dreaming in this new year (this new decade!).

Because God is a dreamer. And even if we stop dreaming for ourselves, He never stops dreaming for us...

He can do "immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine." Ephesians 3:20

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Comments

[Becky]

Dear Holley,

Thank you for posting this today. I don't even know what to say other than "Thank you". I know you hear it alot, but that was soooo what I needed.

Love and blessings,

[Leanna]

I have to say I'm right with Becky today.Thank you for posting this. I NEEDED to read this today. In fact I need to print this and put it somewhere I can read it daily.Thank you again.

[Patty]

Sticking with a dream and seeing it through can indeed be one of the hardest things. But, oh the blessings when we finish a dream God has given us.

[Tim Mills]

Amen.

[Bindu]

Holley,

Cried at my desk while reading this post, it was so timely...thank you for writing it.

[Dionna]

I have SO many dreams. I'm a dreamer by nature. So many have gone unrealized and yet I've seen dreams come true that I didn't even know I had. God has channeled my desire or love for something and led it in a totally different direction than the one I'd considered. Yes - it ended up better than the dream I had.

[herfina]

Thx for writing this.. I've been keeping my dream for sometimes, and I was to lose courage when I read this. Thank you again for helping me dare to dream..

[Karman]

Holley, you call it a dream, I call it a vision. But I am not quite a visionary. It takes a lot of faith. I confess that sometimes I don't have enough faith to dream, to see a vision come through. Lord, I want to believe, help me with my unbelief.

[Miriam]

Because God is a dreamer. And even if we stop dreaming for ourselves, He never stops dreaming for us... - this statement is a blessing to me - if you feel discurraged and you are down read this time and again - feel the Holy Spirit move in youthanks and be blessed

[Linda]

Thanks for your reminder to dream. Dreaming means to hope, and we have to have hope. I have felt really hopeless lately, so thank you for your post. God is hope, so we have to have hope - and we can't stop dreaming, even after many long years of dreaming, hoping and praying - I will continue to trust God and hope and dream!