I love days like today. The sun is shining. The sky is a vivid blue. And, the wind is blowing just enough that our pipe organ-type wind chimes are echoing into the house a melodic tune. The sun is dancing off the water in our pool and reflecting off our ceiling in the house. It’s the perfect setting for day dreaming. It is easy to sit back and get lost in the tune, stare at the ceiling and absorb the warmth of the sun. Time to dream about what could be.
The thing I love about day dreaming is that there are no rules. Dreaming can include any subject, setting, circumstances, person, etc; it’s all available to weave into a magical dream with as much a fairy-tale ending as I desire. If it’s possible for humans to imagine perfection, then a dream is surely the stage for such whimsy. It’s a beautiful thing and everything is possible. Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”. I concur heartily. It is in our dreaming we allow our minds to expand beyond the boundaries of our inhibitions to discover new possibilities.
The true magic of a dream is when hope awakens within it. The spark of realization that this dream is actually possible is the beginning of a path paved with hope. Webster says that hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. Hope becomes like a life-giving fuel to our dream. The fuel of hope ignites the spark and catapults us beyond the dream to feel the adrenalin of expectation. Expectation that it shouldn’t fade away into the myriad of other thoughts vying for attention within our heads. This dream should be remembered, nourished, and given back to the Lord for further development.
I would bet that anyone reading this has had this experience many times in their lifetime. The dream, the adrenalin rush of hope and then….what? The dream fades, the rush diminishes and the myriad of other thoughts have taken over and stomped out any spark that remained. What is missing? Although lacking visible evidence of it’s reality, a dream fueled by hope are the essential foundational elements of every new adventure. They must exist, but their lone existence is not enough to bring the dream to a reality. I suggest that every dream can only be accomplished when combined with a vision. The dreamer, accompanied by hope, is the sure recipient of the vision. We have all seen multitudes of examples of this principal in all cultures, industries and successes of our world. A person had a dream and with it the vision to bring it to pass.
The vision is the “how to” plan required to achieve the dream and to build the visible evidence of it’s reality. Simply, the lack of “how to” is what ends most dreams. I am not referring to the mere knowledge of “how to”, but more importantly the ability to see the guidelines and boundaries of success. A clear vision of what ideals and in what measure must be combined to attain success, must be the convictions of the person leading the charge. There will be many along the path to accomplishing the vision that will detract from it’s success if not for the unwavering direction of the visionary. It takes time and energy and a commitment to pursue the wisdom needed to develop the vision to reach success. There is no short cut to a successful dream. Even lottery winners who don’t commit to pursuing wisdom, have found their supposed windfall a fleeting dream.
Wisdom comes in multiple forms. Scripture tells us in James 1:5: (NIV) If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. As a believer, we know that surely as God is the giver of wisdom, He also the giver of visions. The first step in pursuing any dream comes in bringing it to God for His counsel. If it is of God, the stepping stones on your path to our dream’s reality begin to take direction. Inviting the wisdom and counsel of others, researching, working hard, plus other God-directed components will all serve to breathe life into the dream. Sharing the dream, instilling the vision, passing it along to those involved, empowers everyone involved to common goals of success.
I’ve often pondered the scripture, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.”, Proverbs 29:18. Another translation says “If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed.”. I have seen the truth of this scripture in so many different scenarios. If people can’t see what the company is doing (if they don’t see or understand the vision) they stumble all over themselves. I’ve worked for companies that way under-estimate the costly significance of not sharing the vision with employees. If people can’t see what the pastor/church is doing, they stumble all over themselves. We’ve all seen the sad reality of this and in this case, people literally will perish because the church never reaches it’s potential in ministering to souls for Christ. Scripture warns us that where there is no vision, the consequences are devastating. I’d suggest that this is a profound truth no matter what or who we are talking about. If you proceed without a vision, the dream cannot be sustained. Failure is certain.
Joseph Addison says, “Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.” I’ve seen many a folk fall into a mundane existance that no longer dreams. As we go this week to Oregon, a place we have dreams and hopes of moving back to, we covet your prayers. We have a vision for what we are to do there and are looking to God to bring confirmation. For you, I pray that you will awaken within your heart a new desire to seek God’s clarity in whatever vision you are walking out. And, if you are not currently walking out a vision, I pray you will have sweet dreams on your journey to find one.
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