Go Ahead, Dream!

Tom Barnard

 

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed,

for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

(Isaiah 41:10)

 

“God always rejoices when we dare to dream. In fact, we are much like

God when we dream. The Master exults in newness. He delights in stretching

the old. He wrote the book on making the impossible possible.”

Max Lucado, in God’s Promises for You (Thomas Nelson, 2006)

 

Dreams don’t occur just at night. In fact, night dreams are not the best dreams. The best dreams are day dreams. Strike that. The best dreams take place when we are awake, not when we are asleep. When we are conscious, we are in the real world. When we are asleep, we might be in the world of the past, the present, or the future. Or none of these.

 

David the King dreamed. Unfortunately, one of his dreams led to serious trouble for him. But when he dreamed the right kind of dream, good things followed. The right kind of dreams for David were the dreams that included God. The Third Psalm was written when David was fleeing from his son Absalom. Here is what David prayed:

 

“O Lord, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me!

Many are saying of me, ‘God will not deliver him.’

But you are a shield around me, O Lord; you bestow glory on me

and lift up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me

from his holy hill.”

(Psalm 3:1-4)

 

Father in Heaven, thank you for letting me dream things impossible and things improbable. Thank you for the gift of clear and rational thought. Thank you for giving me the opportunity of choice. But even more important, I am thankful that in times when my dreams collide with a wall of resistance, you are a “shield around me…you bestow glory on me…and answer me.” In the Name of the Nazareth’s Dreamer I pray. Amen.