Dreaming with God

This week, as I was preparing my message for this Sunday morning, the Lord brought a random memory to my mind. Now, I admit, I am a little bit ADD. My mind bounces around A LOT, into seemingly random places and connections all the time.  Over the years, I have learned to stop and pay a little bit of attention to these moments of “random” remembering. I have found that the Lord is often behind these random memories popping up as a way to speak by His Spirit to mine.

I was brought back to a moment when the Lord invited me to dream. Years back, when I lived in Portland, I would often drive home from work on a stretch of I-84. During that painfully slow commute, I would pass a Powerball billboard. I would see that large dollar amount, and while stuck in stop and go traffic, in a car with a broken air conditioner, I would often begin to think, “Man, what would I do with all that money?” I will admit, this is not always a very productive path, because it would start to lead my heart into a place of discontent.  And let’s face it, if I am banking on the off chance that millions of dollars suddenly become mine, I most likely will be waiting forever, and existing in a constant state of discontent. However, in this particular moment, as I was “dreaming” about what I would do with that “windfall” of resources, the Lord interrupted my “meditation”. I remember that He simply said, “Drew, forget about winning Powerball for a moment and answer this question for me; What would you want to do with your life if money were not an obstacle?”

When the Lord asked me this question, He circumvented a stronghold in my soul, this belief that I have to provide for myself, and that I am incapable of actually providing for any dream. He instead simply asked me to connect to my heart and  share with Him what I truly desired to do with my life. In my mind, this dream was impossible, but to the Lord nothing is impossible. I thought for a few minutes and responded to the Lord, honestly and vulnerably and then forgot all about it.  It was a few years later, while on a plane from Medford to a speaking engagement across the country that the Lord reminded me of that vulnerable moment of dreaming.  “Hey Drew, do you remember that time on the freeway?” Long story short, the Lord had brought that dream of “What would you do with your life if money were not an obstacle?” to fruition without having to win Powerball!!  He is so good!!

When His Desires Become Our Desires

I share this story today to encourage you. First off, the Lord cares about our hearts, and he cares about our dreams. In fact, I will go so far to say that when we are following Jesus and giving Him our affections and our obedience, His desires for us often become our desires. He doesn’t give us godly desires just to frustrate them. Second, if God puts a desire in our heart, or a calling on our life, He is the one who will equip and supply for that desire, dream, or calling. He is that good!

Is there a dream, or desire of your heart, that you have shut down or deemed impossible, or put in a category that is “only possible if..”?  Can I encourage you, as you pursue the Lord in relationship, to invite Him into those places of desire and dream? Can I encourage you to not only allow Him to refine these, but also, to allow Him to awaken in you hope and faith in His goodness towards you! He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more than we can ask or imagine!