Dreaming daily

One of my assignments as a lead pastor (self assigned) is to constantly dream and cast vision concerning where our church should and could be headed.

We are constantly striving to go on to the next level (whatever that is - now there's a blog all in and of itself).

Here's my thought today. We should not only dream and cast vision about our work, our church, but also our own individual lives.

Albert Einstein said, "Once a day, allow yourself the freedom to dream."

Let me ask you this question today. What is your dream? And if you are dreaming, what would you dream about?

A better family life?
A closer walk with God?
A promotion at work?
A more secure financial situation?

What are your dreams?

As we dream, we give ourselves an opportunity to glance beyond what we are experiencing in the here and now. We explore the possibilities of what could happen, how things might become.

William Carey was a dreamer.

Some people thought he was a nut.

He was just a shoemaker, after all, and an average one at that.

But in the evenings, after work, he studied Greek, Hebrew, and a variety of modern languages. He devoured Captain Cook's Voyages to expand his horizons, which, because of his poverty, kept him bound to a small, forgotten English village.

Some people said his time would have been better spent getting a second job to support his growing family.

But the young man's passion wasn't a curious, self-satisfying hobby. Early in life he had become concerned about the millions of unbelievers outside of Europe, and he was trying to figure out what could be done to bring them the gospel.

With God's help, he slowly figured it out.

He had a dream.

He ended up going to India to serve as the first Protestant missionary in the modern era. His passion inspired a generation of men and women—the likes of Adoniram Judson, Hudson Taylor, and David Livingstone (among others)—to take up the cause of missions as well.

Because one impoverished shoemaker named William Carey followed his God-given dream, his God given passion, large parts of the world that had little or no access to the gospel have large populations of people today who confess Christ as Lord.

Now your dream will not probably be that dramatic, but maybe God is giving you a dream of reaching your neighborhood, or moms in your church, or people at your work. Maybe your dream is to raise healthy children, be a godly person, or succeed at your business.

Whatever your dream is - take a big stop and allow God to help you fulfill that dream.

Jesus said in Matthew 17:20,21, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

Mustard-seed faith -- which is actually mountain moving faith -- starts with a dream, an idea of what could be.

And it starts with an impossible dream.

You see, every great miracle in the Bible began with an impossibility.

Here's what I know: You don't have to stay stuck in a rut forever.

Allow yourself to dream.

Once a day (at least once a day), take some time to get alone with God, think about your life, your ministry, your family, your health, your happiness, and allow yourself to imagine how things could be.

And let God be God.