Dreaming with God in the New Year: Part 2

As you dream with God get ready to come face to face with the magnitude of His miraculous power. If you’re dream sounds embarrassingly big, then rest assured it’s probably from Him.

Last week we began discussing three steps to dreaming with God. Step 1 TUNE IN involves spending time in His presence and tuning into His voice. Whether He speaks to you audibly, in pictures, through music, or in your thought life God is eager to communicate His plans for your life. Dreaming with God involves defining our direction for the year based on God’s words to us rather than on our own logical thoughts about what we need to or should be doing. God’s ways are higher and His dreams are bigger than anything we can come up with on our own.

Now let’s dig into the second practical step to dreaming with God:

2. THINK BIG

God-sized dreams are impossibly big. Go into your time with God with that expectation my friend. Jesus said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). We are children of the God of the Impossible. He is the God who gives children to the barren (Sarah) and the virgin (Mary). He equipped David to kill a giant with a rock. He used Moses to part a sea for the Hebrews. He sent angels to bust Paul out of prison. Impossible is where God loves to start. As the Lord puts dreams and ideas in your heart for the year resist the urge to tone them down to try and fit what seems possible for you based on your resources, abilities or past experience. Trust His words and His process and His ability to equip you by His Spirit. Courageously say “YES” to what you see and hear from Him. Ask God to show you a clear next step that you can take to partner with this dream. Maybe share what you are feeling with a mentor or trusted friend and ask them to pray for courage and greater clarity for you.

We must fight the tendency to disqualify ourselves from what sounds significant, new or exciting. Bill Johnson says, “We need to remain childlike. Children don’t dream of being insignificant.” In elementary school I was invited to a banquet and on public television every child was asked what they wanted to be when they grow up. No lie, I stood up and said I wanted to be the head coach of the University of Tennessee football team. The room erupted and I sat down quite pleased with how clearly I communicated my dream. I loved watching UT football with my Dad and had no thought that maybe my gender, among other things, could disqualify me from a job like that.

As I reflect now on Bill’s comment about childlike dreams, I think this must be exactly what the Lord is inviting us into as adults. As we hear His words over our lives, God wants us to agree with Him and boldly declare who He says we are and what He says we will do in His name. No one scoffs at a child who believes the impossible is possible, so let’s show that same delight and honor to ourselves and fellow believers as we press into impossibly big and incredibly significant dreams this year!