“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
Whether we realize it or not, I think we all have dreams. Some of them are silly dreams like shaking the Presidents hand or winning a silent auction item.
Others run deeper. So deep they stick with us no matter where we go or what we do.
These dreams aren’t silly, in fact, they become a subconscious governor in our decision-making process because if we really had our way, we’d pursue them.
Yet, something holds us back.
It isn’t that we don’t want to fulfill these dreams, it’s just that they are so big, so beyond our own doing that it feels risky to pursue them. Or even share them with others.
Maybe we don’t feel competent.
I have a dream and I don’t feel qualified for it. Quite frankly, I’m not qualified for it. Not yet. And I haven’t always felt comfortable sharing it with others because I’m afraid they will look at me as if it is just a silly dream. Unrealistic for me.
If you and I are going to live meaningful lives we’ve got to embrace meaningful dreams.
We have to quit trying to keep our options open (by not pursuing that one thing that keeps nagging at us because what if a better opportunity comes up).
But here’s where I think many of us get hung up:
Is it really what God wants me to do? Or am I just following my own desire?
We’ve heard plenty of convicting sermons about how man’s heart is deceitfully wicked and why we shouldn’t follow our hearts and instead follow God’s will. But no one ever explains what God’s will is or how to find it.
His will seems to be so mysterious that it’s one of the largest categories of books. Everyone has a way of finding God’s will. How do we know which one is right?
Man’s heart is deceitful and we can’t understand it like God does, but as followers of Christ, God has placed “a new spirit within each of us and He has replaced our hearts of stone with hearts of flesh so that we can walk in His statutes.” (Ezekiel 11:19)
Furthermore, He says:
“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:10)
What if that thing you can’t shake—that desire to see Christian education advanced in our inner cities in North America—what if that is something God’s Spirit within you is bringing to your attention?
And what if you ignore it, excuse it or find a reason you’re not qualified for it? Do you want God giving you according to that way?
“He didn’t follow my voice, I won’t hear his.”
I really believe God places dreams in our hearts to guide us, but we are often too scared to share them. Scared we’re not hearing from Him correctly and scared people will poke fun at us or that we’ll fail.
But you know what happens when we freeze in our fears?
Nothing.
That’s what happens.
And the enemy advances while God’s people are sitting around worrying about what others will think of them.
(Or distracted with lesser dreams. Dreams that are doable with their own strength, like making lots of money or having a stylish family.)
What if we started sharing our dreams with each other?
Not the little ones, like meeting Joe Mauer in person. But the big ones. The ones that require a team to achieve them. The ones that are bound for failure unless God shows up. What if we started sharing those dreams?
Could it be that God would begin working things into motion for His plan to be fulfilled? Is it possible that because we don’t share our dreams, we prevent God’s will from being fulfilled in our lives?
I have a dream.
I have many. This one is big. Bigger than me in that it will take more people than just me. And bigger than me in that I’m not qualified for it, yet.
Our cities are centers of influence, and someone other than God is having the influence. It’s not because cities are controlled by the devil, as some might like to say.
“Flee to the country! Keep yourselves from evil.”
The reason our cities are being influenced by Satan is because while God-fearing people flee to safe-country, evil-minded people are figuring out ways to connect with the youth of our culture.
The average American young person will spend at least twelve years in public school. Many people in the city are poor and have no desire to teach their children. They will never home school. Public schools are free.
And public schools are opposed to the knowledge of God.
What if there was an alternative for those families? What if there were schools they could afford and that offered similar programs and training of better quality? What if we could begin teaching the average America youth about God for twelve years of their life?
Wouldn’t that influence our nation for Christ more effectively than trying to win political battles for our public schools?
The problem is that it will take years.
It would take lots of training. And lots of people willing to get professional training and spend years pursuing this dream.
But I think it could happen. And it’s one dream I have.
What’s yours?
