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WHEN GOD GIVES YOU A DREAM

There may be no more unlikely dreamer for God within the Bible than Saul/Paul of Tarsus. Saul was a well-trained pharisee—the outspoken opponents of Jesus before he was crucified. Before Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he was committed to killing followers of Jesus called The Way (Acts 8:3 and 9:1-2).

However, Saul experienced what Pastor Rick described as a dream from God. “He gives you a dream about what he wants to do, and the impact he wants to make through your life in the world.” This is the second phase of faith: dream. For Saul, God used a disciple named Ananias to communicate his dream (vv. 10-18).

Something amazing about Saul is that he began pursuing the dream God had given him immediately. After being blinded by God, Saul fasted for three days. As soon as his sight was restored, he began living out the dream God had given him by proclaiming the gospel of Jesus. Acts 9:20 says, “At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God” (emphasis added). If you read his letters in the New Testament, you’ll see that Saul was incredibly passionate. He seemed driven to preach the gospel until the day he died. He was never the same once God gave him a dream to pursue.

Have you been given a dream by God? Do you have a sense that the Holy Spirit is directing you to do something? It may be big or it may be small. The size of the dream doesn’t matter. What matters is the one who gave you the dream. God’s plans are “immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). Whatever God has given you to do, act as Saul did after the scales fell from his eyes. Begin “at once” and experience the joy of a deepening faith in God.

Reflection

Has God given you a dream in the past? What happened with that dream? Think about God’s work in your life through that dream.

Pastor Rick has said that, “God’s dream will never contradict his word.” How have you seen this to be true in your life?

Is there something you can do today to live into God’s dream for your life?

Prayer

Dear Lord, what’s your dream for my life in this season? Is it to stay the course I’m on? Is it to do something dramatically different? Or is it a dream for subtle, but important changes? Whatever it is, show it to me and help me to have faith to pursue it. Amen.