DREAM BIGGER DREAMS
The world can be hard on our dreams. What once seemed so likely, now feels partial at best. Our best-laid plans laid to rest, sacrificed for other more pressing needs.
It feels like such loss. Not just a loss of our dreams, but also of hope and heart.
I mentor a wide spectrum of artists. Some are at the start of their calling, expectant at all that awaits them. But for others, their attempts have been met with heartache and disillusionment. Why would I have this creative desire if this is all there is? Maybe it’s time to give up.
Perhaps you find yourself there, wondering if it’s time to move on or radically downsize your dreams.
I have much better advice.
God is inviting you to dream bigger dreams.
That may feel counter-intuitive or unrealistic, especially if your earlier dreams have yet to materialize.
But it’s actually the truest path I can invite you on.
We just need to dream different in order to dream bigger.
This is the opposite of asking God to come alongside our dreams and make them happen. God isn’t a genie. He isn’t here to grant our wishes but to invite us to start dreaming together with Him.
We were never meant to dream alone. When we do, we give our dreams wings way too small for the places God longs to take us.
In my book The Story of With, I describe it this way:
When we only consider the options we know are possible, we miss the higher options of God. Yet as a good Father, He invites His children into a future that surpasses human limitations or expectations. Where we see three possible options, God sees endless possibilities. But He will leave us with our three if we refuse to invite Him into the process. Thankfully, He stands ready to share His higher options once we’re ready to release our best options.
Whatever we can accomplish purely in our own strength means those dreams were way too small. Pursue instead the dreams God whispers to you, the ones so big they can only be achieved together…with Him.
If you’re ready to start dreaming those bigger dreams, a great place to start is with this simple yet profound question: Father, what are your dreams for me – the ones You’ve created me for and that we get to enter into together?
