How to Dream Brave With GodÀpẹrẹ

Devotional

ABIDE

“Dream bigger! Aim higher! God is not too small to answer your audacious prayers!”

These days, these sayings are not uncommon.

But we risk making God our butler when we simply present our wishes and hopes (however good they might be) to Him, praying till our knuckles turn white that He might make them come true.

After all, how can asking for a bigger platform to impact more people or a greater sphere of influence to shine His light more brightly be bad?

When I was a new believer at the age of eighteen, I saw the power of God during a mission trip to Nepal. After living with girls who’d been abused and abandoned, and then traumatically evicted, I prayed desperately for God to use me to make a difference. I painted a book called Kitesong, which miraculously raised over $100,000 to build the Nepalese girls a permanent home. The power of a little faith in a big God floored me—my life was forever changed.

But as I matured as a believer, I felt frustrated when my prayers didn’t get answered soon enough. In my early twenties, I prayed for God to send me to the world’s best university in public health, Johns Hopkins, to further my studies so I could truly make a difference as a missionary doctor. But I had no funds and my then-boyfriend, Cliff, proposed. My plans were wrecked. After we married, I tried to pursue my dream, but our pastor invited us to serve in the mission field in Uganda. And when we returned from Uganda, I tried to apply for the Masters program again, only to discover my husband had been offered a missions pastor position in Singapore.

All this time, I wondered if God had forgotten me. If this dream wasn’t from Him, why did it heave and ebb within me, stirring me to action? And if it was from Him, why were there so many roadblocks?

I forgot that God is not half as interested in what we do as He is in who we are. He’s not as curious about how far we make it in achieving our dreams and in how short a time, as much as He is in us making our hearts dwelling places for Him.

You see, to abide in Him, is probably the hardest thing to do when we’re raring to do big things for God. But abiding in Him is where we must begin if we even want to begin to understand the assignment and call He has for our lives.

In all those years of waiting, God refined my motives and purified my heart. He burned away the dross as I had to yield to Him time and again, surrendering my dream lest it became its own idol. Finally, seven years since I submitted my first application to Johns Hopkins, God not only opened the way for me to pursue a long-buried dream, He funded every cent of the $100,000-dollar endeavor through scholarships—scholarships which were truly unexpected because I’d done poorly academically through medical school due to depression.

By then, God had humbled, broken, and enlarged me to invite Him to be Lord over my whole heart. Truly, God has His way and time.

Friend, if you're struggling to see your dreams come to pass, don’t give up. Instead, surrender it to God, trusting that if it is His will, He will resurrect it and bring it to pass in due time. But in the waiting, don’t fret. Abide in Him. Allow Him to do that deep work of molding our characters to learn to trust Him.

Simply present your dreams to Him, and enjoy abiding indulgently in His presence.

Reflection:

What dreams do I hold dearly in my heart?

What do I need to surrender to God, lest my own dreams become an idol?

Response:

Dear God, thank you for revealing to me the importance of abiding in you. I repent of striving to achieve more than desiring to abide in your presence. This season, I receive your invitation to spend time with you. I’m not afraid of silence. I trust that as I delight in our communion together, you will surprise me with divine glimpses of what your dreams for my life might look like. Help me to surrender my dreams to you, and trust that you will resurrect those aligned to your will in your way and time. Amen.