Dream

I was talking to Jenny tonight, the wonderful young lady I mentor, when she inspired my thoughts and spurred on my writing. The conversation went like this.

Jenny: I would love to go live in the jungle.

Me: Do it.

Jenny: It feels too early to know.

Me: You can still dream about Gods will.

This brief conversation led me to think about a couple of things. 

1)      1) Has our generation lost the art of dreaming?

2)      2) Do we dream about God’s will for our lives? 

About the first. Our generation has grown up in a consumerist, apathetic, win for the sake of winning culture. We go to school, to get the grades, to go to college, to get a job, to weasel our way to a promotion, so we can get the bigger house and the better SUV to cart around the next generation so they can go to school, to get the grades, to go to college, to get a job……  

Our society has become self-sufficient, even when it comes to our dreams.  Instead of dreaming about changing the way a race is viewed, walking on the moon, finding freedom, or finding the love of your life (not just the love of your night) we dream about being comfortable. Everything we do has become about us and our ease of life. 

The art of dreaming does not involve checking off a list or doing what feels good. It is about maximizing your potential and living out every bit of yourself. 

This leads me to the second. If living out God’s will is how we maximize our lives to our fullest potential then shouldn’t that involve dreaming? Just because we are following His will, this especially applies to those of us in ministry, it doesn’t mean we just sit back and wait for Him to reveal the checklist of life. He created us to dream. He gave us likes and wants and desires and dreams AS the way he reveals his will.

I don’t just dream of having children, I dream of raising the next generation to discover and think for themselves. I dream about raising them in a way to find God through knowledge, faith, experience, and truth.

I don’t just dream of becoming a counselor. I dream of changing the face and heart of Christian Counseling. I dream of writing books on Theological Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I dream of showing others how to change their life by changing their source, then changing their thoughts, then changing their actions, then changing their emotions.

I don’t just dream of going to college and grad school. I dream of intentionally learning every day of my life.

I don’t just dream of traveling the world. I dream of exploring other cultures, learning from them, meeting their needs. Taking my children to explore other lands, learn from other people, and love whomever they meet.

I don’t just believe these are my dreams. I believe God has instilled wants, desires, and cravings in all of us that call us to dream; they call us to dream of His will in our lives. It goes hand in hand. God can use our dreams, so dream.