Thinking about dreams today. Not the kind you have while you’re asleep…though I did have a rather interesting, somewhat disturbing dream right before I awoke this morning…but I digress.

Have you ever thought about the gift of a dream?

People don’t talk about their hopes and dreams these days, or is it just me? Why? Do we not have time to dream? Are we too afraid to dream? Have we owned one dream too many, only to have it crushed by the realities of day to day living?

John Maxwell wrote in his book Running With the Giants that: “Dreams are conceived long before they are achieved. The period is filled with doubts, adversity, changes, and surprises. During the process, you will experience good days and bad days. And frequently you will be faced with a dilemma: Do you give up, or go on? Without hesitation, I can give you the answer: Don’t give up on your dream.”

Someone once said, “In order to live beyond your wildest dreams, you must first have wild dreams.” Is that not what living a life of faith is all about…having dreams and believing in them enough to leave the safety of the familiar and wander out into the unknown zone of desires, callings and gifts?

“Sad is the day when a person becomes absolutely satisfied with the life he is living, the thoughts he is thinking (the dreams he is having), the deeds he is doing – when there forever ceases to beat at the door of his soul a desire to do something greater for God.” Sad indeed. For to do so is to enter into a life of mediocrity where you live the same day over and over and over again.

A dream isn’t something to be dismissed as a pastime of a child; something we outgrow, or something to be ashamed of possessing. The gift of a dream to nurture is one of life’s great gifts. Not simply to hold, wrapped up in a pretty package, to cherish and take out to examine on days of quiet desperation, but to boldly rip off the paper that has held it hidden and allow the God of dreams to breathe life into it.

Dreams…we all have them, but only a few dare to live their lives in pursuit of a worthy goal.

I will leave you with a prayer from Running With the Giants

Sovereign Lord,
I don’t ask that You relieve every pain experienced by my friends; I ask that You fuel them to fulfill their purpose. Make Your dreams for their lives vivid in their minds, and give them the heart to keep running the race.
Amen

Thinking about dreams today. Not the kind you have while you’re asleep…though I did have a rather interesting, somewhat disturbing dream right before I awoke this morning…but I digress.

Have you ever thought about the gift of a dream?

People don’t talk about their hopes and dreams these days, or is it just me? Why? Do we not have time to dream? Are we too afraid to dream? Have we owned one dream too many, only to have it crushed by the realities of day to day living?

John Maxwell wrote in his book Running With the Giants that: “Dreams are conceived long before they are achieved. The period is filled with doubts, adversity, changes, and surprises. During the process, you will experience good days and bad days. And frequently you will be faced with a dilemma: Do you give up, or go on? Without hesitation, I can give you the answer: Don’t give up on your dream.”

Someone once said, “In order to live beyond your wildest dreams, you must first have wild dreams.” Is that not what living a life of faith is all about…having dreams and believing in them enough to leave the safety of the familiar and wander out into the unknown zone of desires, callings and gifts?

“Sad is the day when a person becomes absolutely satisfied with the life he is living, the thoughts he is thinking (the dreams he is having), the deeds he is doing – when there forever ceases to beat at the door of his soul a desire to do something greater for God.” Sad indeed. For to do so is to enter into a life of mediocrity where you live the same day over and over and over again.

A dream isn’t something to be dismissed as a pastime of a child; something we outgrow, or something to be ashamed of possessing. The gift of a dream to nurture is one of life’s great gifts. Not simply to hold, wrapped up in a pretty package, to cherish and take out to examine on days of quiet desperation, but to boldly rip off the paper that has held it hidden and allow the God of dreams to breathe life into it.

Dreams…we all have them, but only a few dare to live their lives in pursuit of a worthy goal.

I will leave you with a prayer from Running With the Giants

Sovereign Lord,
I don’t ask that You relieve every pain experienced by my friends; I ask that You fuel them to fulfill their purpose. Make Your dreams for their lives vivid in their minds, and give them the heart to keep running the race.
Amen