Is It Wrong To Dream?

Coming out of a very self-centered season in my life I struggled with what it meant to dream about the future. Before, I had made plans that just served me and only me and did not involve God in any way. Then rather suddenly, I wasn’t living life my own way anymore. I was living for God rather than for myself. After returning to Lord I felt confused about how I should think of the future. I didn’t understand what a life with God at the center looked like.

At the beginning of my journey with God I thought that any dreaming at all was selfish. In some ways that is arguably true. But one thing I didn’t understand was that as any Christian matures in their faith their desires for the future also change and their desires mature in their own way that aligns more and more with what God desires (which is always good). That doesn’t mean that all that we desire will happen, but that we begin to desire good things that God has made.

Our expectations can also change as we mature in our faith because we come to learn more about who God is as our Father and how he works in people’s lives. This phenomena continues to fascinate me because the way he interacts with each of us as individuals shows how well he knows us as his and how he plans our lives so well and down to the detail. This doesn’t mean everything God calls us to is easy, but that we learn in the doing. Often times we can come across things we believe we are ill equipped for but God wants us to learn in the process, which can be absolutely terrifying. Everyone’s story is different, but all believers have a common denominator in their lives and that is God who’s character never changes. He is the same in his ruling over anyone’s life.

Desiring good things from God is a good thing. Dreaming can be a good and wonderful thing to do. The extreme of this however is not good. Actively fantasizing a future life for ourselves can be something that is not good. Living and hoping for a fantasy is not healthy.

Both dreams and fantasies involve our imagination and it can be hard to reign that in at times. Dreams can turn into fantasy real quick. Fantasies can be so beautiful and so alluring, but we have to stay grounded in the reality of how God works and who he is. There’s nothing he cannot do, but our future is something God does with us. The future God has for us doesn’t just happen to us passively. We participate in what is to come and so does God. He has a specifically crafted future ahead for each of us that he created ahead of time. We just have to walk in it.

Now this is not to negate the possibility of miracles. They happen every day. Hoping and praying for a miracle can feel like a fantasy that negates reality but please don’t misunderstand me. God’s almighty power is a part of reality and cannot be excluded. God’s plans can certainly defy any odds. God does amazing works everyday. This topic that I’m addressing is specific to the ‘little stories’ we write for our lives that come from our own thinking and our own dreaming. Even then we can’t idolize our dreams either because we really don’t know everything God will do with our life. I’ve learned to dream, but to hold onto those dreams with gently clasped hands. I really don’t know all the things God has planned for me.

Dream, but don’t let it consume you. Think about your future with God in mind. This idea gets clearer as you learn more about who God is according to his Word. How does God speak to you? How do you hear from God? All these things take time to learn and get used to. At the beginning of this new life in Christ, I thought I could hear God with crystal clarity. I thought I knew exactly how God was planning out my life. For 2 years I seemed so sure, but now I realize that entire time I was wrong. In a great and amazing way I was wrong. It’s in relationship with God through Christ that we learn to hear from God over time and learn to discern God’s will for our life. This itself is a learning and growing process. The Holy Spirit is our helper and a great mystery to us all.

When I’ve been tempted to run away with any dream or fantasy in my heart, I would stop and say, “satan, I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I trust God.” I probably said that out loud and in my heart 10 thousand times. Satan can point me to fantasize more or to despair. My dreams might happen or might not happen, but regardless I trust what God is doing. He knows what’s going to happen. Either way I trust God.

How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” 
James 4:14-15

Tell God about your dreams. Tell him him what you would like and what you hope for one day. He’s certainly listening. And there is nothing too hard for him. So keep dreaming! But dream without clenching your hands so tightly around what you hope for. We don’t know the future. But of this I’m sure: God is good. Always. And is worthy to be trusted.