Originally published Monday, 26 May 2014.
Newsflash: It's not up to you to make a dream come true. No matter what you believe -- that's God's job!
But.
How many of us think we can or need to try our hardest to force a dream? Maybe you believe that if you don't dream big for yourself then no one else will. That's partially true. That's the little white lie the enemy wants you to believe.
However.
Dreaming belongs to God.
According to Staci Eldredge in Becoming Myself: Embracing God's Dream of You:
"God dreams big. And he invites us to dream big with him. When we dream with God, we don't want to run into thinking, 'How can I make this happen?' Dreaming with God isn't about 'how.' It's about what. The point is not so much being able to name the desire as it is to allow God to access the places in our hearts where dreams and desires are planted. God speaks to us there. About himself. About ourselves."
The question is, are you letting God speak into the deep places of your heart? The places where you can't let go due to fear, betrayal, and lost hope.
Your heart is the center where dreams awaken. It's up to you to open up your heart to God and His dreams for you.
I wrote last week about learning a new identity. It's hard for me to realize my anxiety no longer dictates what I believe about myself. I am not an introvert. I am an extrovert. I wonder how your personality type clouds your heart's judgement. Does it make you believe false claims about what God can or cannot do on your behalf?
"He is our dream come true, and the one true love of our life. But we can't love him with our whole hearts when our hearts are asleep. To love Jesus means to risk coming awake, to risk wanting and desiring. Life can suck the dreaming right of of you. Give yourself permission to dream big! Dream deep. Dream wide. Because the thing about dreams is, 'dreams come true.' It's good to sit with God in the quiet and ask him to reveal to you: what do I want? And ask him, what do 'you' want for me?"
Dreams come true.
I know this for a fact in my own life.
Do you?
I have been obedient to sit with God in the quiet and lonely places. I have asked Him to reveal His new dreams for me. It can be tough to struggle with anxiety because it tries to make me believe that God doesn't care about the whole person. Yes, when my health is not doing great -- I tend to focus on health as my number one priority, however, it's nice to know that God doesn't just care about my needs but my wants as well.
Friends, if you are currently struggling to believe that God cares about all your dreams -- you are not alone. Maybe you need a new job, but what you really need is to trust God with every dream because He cares about all your needs. Don't limit God to one need or one dream. Trust Him with your everything!
"Fear in its most wicked, power form form cripples our souls and warps the very fabric of our true hearts. It reshapes our inner reality until we bear no resemblance to the dream that is us, to who we 'really' are. And our lives bear no resemblance to to the lives we are meant to be living. Fear robs us of our very selves."
I know what it feels like to give in to lost hopes.
To no longer bear a resemblance to the dream God placed inside me.
But.
Guess what? As long as we acknowledge our fears to God -- He immediately starts speaking truth because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). Today, choose to open up your clenched hands. Give God open access to you, your heart, and all your dreams. Say "yes" to God so He can say "yes" to you! What are you waiting for?
Question: Are there any areas in your life where you are currently holding back from God? Why?
+ NEW Article: Exposed via LiveitoutBlog.com.
+ NEW Article: Our Reward Is In Heaven via Believe.com.
[Photo credit: Hannah Rose Beasley]
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