Invitation to Dream

Has God ever asked you to dream?

I don’t mean daydream. I don’t mean… new car, new house, great Christmas, etc. I don’t mean “What would you do with a bank-account full of money? kind of dream.” I mean a daring kind of dream. Something that it would take God to accomplish or fulfill because it’s so big. God did that for me some time ago.

Let me quote you from my personal journal:

“I will do what you ask, but you’ve got to ask. I’m not only (asking you) to work for and fulfill someone else’s dreams, I’m asking you to dream as well, because I want to fulfill your dreams also. I want you to know what it feels like to put something impossible in my hands and see it come to pass. I want you to know what it feels like to put yourself in my hands and see what I can do in and through you. I want you to know what it’s like to be an instrument for my glory: Not that the instrument gains more intrinsic value… it only has value as long as it’s associated with my glory. Like the branches that only bear fruit and are worth keeping so long as they are attached to the vine (John. 15).”

Uncomfortable

This is something that the Lord spoke to me during one of the darkest periods of my walk with, and service to, Him… and it was uncomfortable.

Uncomfortable?

Yes, uncomfortable.

Why?

Because we’re not all that used to dreaming. We’re used to our day to day life, for the most part. We are comfortable with what we know… what is familiar, and while a dream may represent a desired-state… it takes risk to get there and the perceived pain involved in taking the risk overcomes our desire for change. So we put the dream back on the shelf and say “One day….” (we say this with a wistful look in our eye, a bit of a sigh on our lips and a bit of deflation in our heart…. but we say it).

Uncomfortable …also because it’s much easier to buy into someone else’s dream (note that he mentions that and note… there is a time and a place for buying into someone else’s dream – it’s often the training ground for ministry) than it is to put your own dreams on the line.… it requires less vulnerability.

Uncomfortable …also because we are so unaccustomed to dreaming for ourselves that we’re “rusty”. A child dreams frequently and so has little difficulty when asked to dream. Adults on the other hand have become so conditioned to practicality that we can forget how to dream.

Where & Why?

Where do I start?
Why start?

God said it… because he wants me to know what it feels like to see that impossible dream take shape. Talk about the ultimate thrill-seeker.

But here’s the catch…

In the end… it’s not about me. It’s about him. It’s about his plan. It’s about his glory. The kind of dreams that God takes pleasure in fulfilling are not those that will bring me any notoriety, but those that will:

advance his kingdom

bring him glory

see lives changed

So I’ve been dreaming and that dream has been slowly taking shape over a period of numerous months. Has it completely taken shape? Not yet, but as I take definite steps toward a certain direction, God hones the vision and clarifies the details.

This dream called AIMLong is taking shape slowly but surely.
Thank you for being part of it.