God is the giver of dreams, he is the sole source and giver of hope in our lives and he gives us both of these things in order to fulfill his purposes in our lives and in the earth. We get to participate in the fulfillment of his good purposes on earth and sometimes this is done through the fulfilment of his promises to us, sometimes it is done through the fulfilment of our hopes, dreams and aspirations - what a wonder!
Life has a way of changing in front of us though, and changing us in the process. I know of some people who have such a solid view of what the future may hold for them that everything that comes across their path that has a slightly different look to their already formed ideal then it gets passed up, and I’ve seen it happen over and over and over again. I’ve seen countless times a solid opportunity for people to grasp something of worth, of value in the opportunity in front of them and because they already have their mind made up about ‘exactly’ how that thing is going to look - it gets passed up. And all the potential of that opportunity, gets dropped by the wayside. I’ve also seen this happen in my own life.
Seeing your dreams differently.
Not only are these opportunities there for our potential benefit but they are also there to bring about change in us. If something isn’t how you envisaged it then when a semblance of it manifests in front of you, you are going to have to change to adapt to it. You are going to have to bend, your expectations are going to have to mold to the circumstances before you, and sometimes parts of you are going to have to die - in order for them to be reborn and in order for God’s true desire to be made manifest in you. But out of this rebirth can come something that is even better than what we may have originally envisaged.
Our dreams and desires are there for a reason but sometimes those reasons have to be analysed, because not all dreams are totally pure and wholesome. Not all dreams are 100% from the Father, some are but some may be tainted. We may have to look two or three layers deep, look under the surface of some of our desires to see sometimes what is driving it. Is it an unmet need in our childhood? It is a wound we are desperately trying to salve? Is it mere ego or delusions of grandeur? Maybe, and maybe not.
Either way we have to become conscious enough to analyze them in order to see. I believe a lot our good dreams have been instilled in us from God, after all he has said to us that if we delight ourselves in him, then he will give us the desires of our hearts, but I believe this knowing that it is He that is the one giving us those desires. But sometimes some of those dreams have been exaggerated or tainted or changed by the suffering of life or even by our own sin.
This is where we must hold onto our dreams - but tentatively, not so tightly as to not allow them to change form in front of us. Sometimes some dreams may never be fulfilled (ironically) until we let them go of them completely. Allowing God to restore them and to re-fulfil them when the time is right.
Getting caught in the flow.
What is most important though is allowing ourselves to bend and move around our dreams and hopes and in that movement, allow God’s grace to open our mind to change - to allow those dreams to take new forms and to allow ourselves to see things differently if things don’t turn out quite as we pictured them to be’.
Imagine yourself as a stick floating down a river, your dream could be as solid as the rock in front of you, you grasp it, hold onto it and then when the unforeseen flow of life and circumstance push from behind you - you keep holding on (and on and on) until that steady stream becomes a forces so strong that it eventually breaks you and pushes you along regardless, but now spinning, lost and bewildered.
Or we can hold on as long as is comfortable but once that flow starts… we can make the choice to let go of that rock get caught up in the flow (this is in essence true faith) to let go completely and let that stream take us where it may, still holding onto hope in our hearts though, but this time knowing that that rock of desire, that dream, that island of hope may look slightly different to us further on down the stream. Because not only may that dream have slightly changed - but so have we.
“Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.” - Psalm 37:3-4
Tim Everton is from South Australia, is a youth worker by trade and runs his own small business making miniature things. In his off-time he enjoys making more miniature things, playing board games hanging out at the beach and seeking out the next best cafe latte.
Tim Everton’s previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/tim-everton.html