Rocky Mountain Raspberry, Banana Fudge, Chocolate Honey Cup, Peanut Butter Binge, Mocha Almond Fudge, Mango Tango…the choices were overwhelming. Dozens of flavours to choose from. Who knew ice cream came is such a swagger of sweetness?
I perused the selections wondering if I would diverge from my ever-faithful strawberry and chocolate double tap. Still mulling over the flavour dilemma in my mind I began to visually graze around the rest of the establishment. It was one of those touristy ice cream/souvenir/knick knack/tchotchke stores you find along tourism corridors. You know the kind…
It was then that it caught my eye. It seemed to leap off the wall at me. It was calling me and I knew I had to respond. I had to buy it. It was one of those spur of the moment, impulsive decisions.
It’s now in my office.
“IF YOUR DREAMS DON’T SCARE YOU THEY’RE NOT BIG ENOUGH” – in a simple white frame, 16 inches wide by 27 inches tall.
It’s not the ‘art’ of it that caught me, it was the challenge. I had to ask myself two questions:
Do I actually dream of what God wants to do in me and through me? I mean dream in such a way that it’s impossible unless God ‘shows up’? In other words, without God it’s not going to happen.
We don’t often talk about dreams in the church do we? Like, “What are your dreams you want to accomplish?” Somehow we think that having dreams is selfish and sinful. Well, dreams certainly can be selfish and sinful. However, they can also be gloriously Godly. I don’t think God has any issue with grandiose dreams that are for the betterment of others.
Our God is a big God. He is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Shouldn’t our dreams be big? If we’re indeed our Father’s sons, then our hopes, dreams and expectations should be grand and glorious. In fact, I wonder if small dreams are ‘offensive’ to God? I wonder if we have a tendency to set our sights too low, make our dreams too small and God whispers, “C’mon, go for it – let’s do something bigger than that.”
William Carey the ‘father of modern missions’ stated, “Attempt great things for God, expect great things from God.” Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Some people look at what is and ask ‘why?’, others dream of what could be and declare ‘why not!’” C.S Lewis exhorted us by saying, “The problem is not that we desire too much, but that we desire too little.”
These men had ‘scary’ dreams. All gave themselves to big dreams for the benefit of others.
I think our dreams are meant to be big because they are meant to demand faith. They are meant to be far bigger than us; something that overwhelms us. Something that scares us because we’re not sure we have what it takes to do it – the dream is impossible without God. Attempting it on our own would be ruinous.
There is a progression to seeing dreams come to fruition though. It all starts with a faith-fueled desire to see God work powerfully and profoundly in us and through us for His glory, not ours. But we can’t just have big dreams and expect them to magically happen. It starts with a dream, but from there we need to set goals, make a plan, and take action.
Dream – Goal – Plan – Action.
The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. had a ‘scary’ dream, “That one day his four little children would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” His goal was to see equal rights granted to black people in the US. He had a plan to accomplish that, and then he took action to accomplish the plan.
And, I have no doubt that every step along the way he was on his knees seeking the heart and help of the One who was working with him to see this dream come to reality – his dream of what could be, all the while declaring “Why not!” In fact, I’ll bet it was the Lord who put that dream in Mr. King’s heart.
Yes, I think the Lord is looking for men to whom He can entrust ‘scary’ dreams. Lord help us to be those men…
Ephesians 3:20
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”
Psalm 20:4
“May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.”
Proverbs 21:5
“The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”