What do you dream? I’m not talking about the sometimes bizarre mental processing your brain engages in while you sleep–I’m talking about those little tugs you feel on your heart when God is whispering of new possibilities.
As human beings, I think we were created to dream. We were formed in the image of God, who dreams big all the time. And God has endowed each of us with certain gifts that we can use for his kingdom.
However, we live in a world that mistakes dreams for goals, and a culture that says dreams are reserved for the young. Something happens as we age, as we get into the routines of our lives, as we rush around after kids or pets or careers, as we get settled and comfortable, or at least familiar, with the status quo. We forget to dream, and in the forgetting, I think we lose a bit of ourselves and the connection between ourselves and God, too.
Dreaming can be scary because it often leads to change. In her book, Bittersweet, Shauna Niequist puts it this way:
Dreams are scary things…they often involve uprooting. I love Niequist’s use of the word “chaos” here because following a dream can look a lot like the start of an Easter egg hunt with toddlers–temper tantrums, tumbling, and tears, sometimes all at the same time. But in the end, no matter what comes from chasing a dream, I think that we grow immeasurably closer to who God has called us to be simply by engaging with it, because we cannot follow a dream on our own. We must do so in tandem with God.
Nearly six years ago, my husband had a dream. Chris is a hobbyist woodworker–he would say that he takes a piece of wood and makes it smaller, but the truth is he has made some beautiful pieces for our home over the years, from charcuterie boards to dining tables and even a headboard. So, when he discovered an organization that exists to build beds for kids who don’t have them, he was sold. Chris wanted to start a chapter of this organization in our community, but it would require a lot of capital, a lot of leadership, a lot of time, and a lot of other people. And so, Chris gave it God and waited and dreamed and waited and dreamed until, five years later, the first beds were built and delivered to families in our community. It hasn’t been easy, and this year has been a bit chaotic, but that’s the nature of dreams–you’re birthing something into being, and it’s a very messy process.
There are all sorts of dreams that God places on our hearts, and they’re not age-dependent. As long as you’re breathing, you can be dreaming. In the book of Joel, God tells the prophet that when God returns to lead his people home from exile, they will know he is with them because:
When we dream with God, he goes with us, no matter the chaos that might ensue.
Dreams are often inconvenient. Sometimes, they require us to shake up our lives.
When I quit teaching in my early 20s and moved to Chicago to attend seminary, my parents thought I had lost my mind. My dad, especially, was frantic with fear, convinced that this was going to end in disaster. A marriage, two kids, and several years later, when I quit teaching once again to pursue writing full-time, it was a huge gamble, and there were many lean years where I wondered if I’d made a terrible mistake. But God kept opening doors and I kept walking through and now, I’m doing something I find deeply gratifying with people I absolutely love, though they all live far away. And God and I are still dreaming new dreams…some of which are finally starting to come to fruition, and others that are still taking root underground.
I’m sure, in the dreaming, my life will be upended again–but when you get past the chaos of setting a dream loose, there’s so much beauty in how God runs with it.
The point is, as Jesus people, we need to dream, because dreaming is so intrinsically tied to faith and spirit and who God is. It doesn’t matter how old you are, or what your friends or family might think, or what your retirement might look like after you set out (retirement is an idea I gave up long ago.) The world needs people who not only dream, but who will partner with God in pursuing those dreams. So, let’s show them how it’s done. Autumn is a perfect time to dream–as the leaves change color and fall to the ground, it creates a ripe environment for new life to take shape. Take some time this season to get outside the walls you normally surround yourself with and open yourself to God’s whisperings. Spend time talking with the people you love, remembering who you are and the gifts that God has given to you. And allow yourself to dream…to feel the pull, whatever it may be, and think about new possibilities.
What do you dream?
Blessings and Peace,
Sara
