“She thought she could so she did” Dreaming Big

By Louise Hobson

I have always been a bit of a romantic idealist; I’m a rose tinted glasses kind of girl. When it comes to dreaming I often have my head in the clouds. Realists would tell you that that is not where God would have your head in these matters, but I believe that God wants us to have our head in the clouds while having our feet firmly grounded. God has taken me on a journey showing me both are attainable.

I absolutely love the unadulterated innocence of a child’s response when you ask them what their dreams are. They are always so outrageous. Whether it’s what they want to be when they grow up or something that they would love to do, they have no limitations and simply no concept of fear, failure, obstacles or anything that stands in their way! It’s the simplicity of belief. We are to become like them, like little children, with not so little dreams. Wouldn’t it be great to have the mind of a child when it comes to our dreams?

I've still got some of the dreams I've had since I was a little girl and others God has placed on my heart more recently. I have always thought that the desires God gave me would be realised immediately, that those things I held onto in my heart would come to life in an instance. However, it has been my realisation that it doesn't always work like that. Often the dreams that lie in our heart take time to be fulfilled, this can take years. It can take its tole, it may require more from you that you initially dreamt up, it may take sacrifice, it may be a long road to the end goal, but God is faithful to fulfil his promises. I still believe my dreams are realities but I now see that there are processes I have to go through to increase my capacity to fulfil them. God wants to take us on a journey that isn't about lowering our expectations but about increasing our ability to sustain the reality of our dreams. 

I’ve been reading a book recently; ‘The Presence, Power and Heart of God’. There’s a section about prayer ministry, saying that

“Usually, when people come up for prayer ministry, God wants either to bring them closer to Himself (or to salvation), heal them deeply, or empower them (filling them, equipping them and/or speaking to their dreams and visions)." 

You see, God is passionate about our dreams; the ones that lie dormant and the ones that have already sprung to life. He is passionate about us pursuing our dreams. He is a limitless God that wants his children to have limitless minds, minds that understand that dreams are reachable and realistic; not idealistic fancy. He is the God that flung stars into space, the God that created the human race out of dust, the God that made a way for humanity back to himself, the God that raised Jesus from the dead. 

He had a dream; to live in relationship with us, and he moved all of heaven and earth to make it happen. As I’ve learnt,nothing ‘just happens’. Movement, determination and effort are required. A dream is a nice idea so long as it stays out there, but God calls us to grab a hold of our dreams and see them through. I wonder what dream is in your heart? 

For the dream that lies in waiting; God wants to awaken that and set it into motion. But He also wants you to partner with him to see it fulfilled.

I have found that for the Dreamers, those that find it second nature to dream big dreams- we need an understanding of what makes our dreams a reality, we need determination and a hard work ethic to see our dreams through.

For those that find it more difficult to dream big - give those dreams to God and watch Him increase them beyond what you would have imagined.

So whatever your dream capacity is, we can always look to Him as our example; To dream with the faith of a child, to go after those dreams with a will that does not relent, to call out the dreams in others and ultimately to trust the author and creator of our hearts and our dreams with it all.