Sometimes when
you have a dream, and you start to follow them you find yourself in a spot
where you may start to wonder if the dream was of God or of man. What you do
when this happens can either make your dream come true or make it disappear.
Joseph for
instance, had a dream of being a leader over his brothers and controlling the
crops. He believed it could be true
somehow so he shared it with his brothers. They laughed and threw him in a pit
then sold him to slavery that brought him right where God needed him to be to
save the people, including his brothers, by controlling or limiting the amount
of crops a person could receive as their own to eat.
There
we were, binding sheaves in the field. Then behold, my sheaf arose and also
stood upright; and indeed your sheaves stood all around and bowed down to my
sheaf”. And
his brothers said to him, “Shall you indeed reign over us? Or shall you indeed
have dominion over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his
words. Then
he dreamed still another dream and told it to his brothers, and said, “Look, I
have dreamed another dream. And this time, the sun, the moon, and the eleven
stars bowed down to me.” He
was an example of following the dream trusting that God was in control of is
life. Genesis 37:7-9
Paul is an
example of someone whose dream was a bit off the mark.
He thought he was
following God but found out; when he came face to face with Jesus; that his
dream was wrong. He altered his course and followed Jesus! Many of us are
followers of Christ because of his story.
Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the
disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked letters from him to
the synagogues of Damascus, so that if he found any who were of the Way,
whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. As he journeyed he came near
Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then
he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul,
why are you persecuting Me?”
And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are
persecuting. It is
hard for you to kick against the goads.”
So
he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?”
Then the Lord said
to him, “Arise and go into the city,
and you will be told what you must do.” Acts 9:1-6
Paul was obedient
to do what He told him to do. His dream changed a bit but he did follow what
God wanted from him! He started out just wanting to kill the followers of Christ
because he thought they were blasphemers, but then he learned the truth and it
set Him free from the bondage of following the rules of God and gave him freedom
to follow Christ without bondage!
What about when
your dream is a for certain God given dream? You are given permission to follow
the dream; like when Moses came face to face with God and was told to go save
the people, to bring them to the Promised Land.
He met a lot of opposition with fulfilling that dream of getting his
people freed. He did not even get to go into the land himself because he was
not patient with the rock and water thing.
So if God gives
us dreams, then why do we have such a hard time living them out? I mean the
Word of God tells us that if “God is for us no thing can stand against us”.
I think God gave us a great example with Jesus
Himself. God wanted to save us all from our sins, but seeing how fleshly we are
He sent His Son, Jesus, to become one of us to die for us. Even though he knew what he would go through
Jesus still completed the task on the Cross according to God the Father’s Will.
He had to battle
the enemy just the same as we do! He was
giving the glory, and the suggestions to do the wrong thing, to tempt God, to
show that He was the Son of God. He was taunted and teased and yet He still stood
up for us.
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be
tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty
days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. Now
when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that
these stones become bread.” But
He answered and said, “It is
written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.’” Matthew
4:1-4
In this we can remember
that God is with us and because He is with us we can stand up to the wiles of
the devil.
In Jesus’ testimony
we can find hope to complete any task strong for Him, with Him! But we need to stay focused on His purpose in
our dreams not our own. It is not about
me! Remember? Sometimes man can plan
amazing things with somewhat good intentions that do not work out because its
not God’s plan. In times like that we can feel sad, discouraged about following
God, and wonder why we ever thought the dream was from Him anyway.
The coolest thing
is that when the timing is right God will bring it to pass, if it is truly of
Him.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a
future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
He knows the plans
he has for you, for me, they are not plans to fail; no matter how hard we fall
He will help us up!
Dear Heavenly
Father, thank you for giving us dreams to dream and for allowing us to see our
dreams come to pass. Help us to look to you and Your Word to find the truth in
our dream, to find that when we follow You to our dreams we will get there. In
Jesus’ name, amen.
Suggested
readings: Acts 9:1-42 Matthew 4:1-25, Psalm 24:1-10, and Psalm 3:1-5.