Man what a year 2016 has been and it’s yet to be over.
Back in January as I prayed about what goodness and glory the Lord would have for me this year, a repetitive theme I encountered was abiding in abundance. No matter where I read in scripture I always, always find myself returning to John ?10:10? and John 15 in its entirety.
At its’ core I have come to understand this life of abiding in abundance is achieved through existing in the presence of the one who created it.
God has taken me layer by layer revealing to me how deep and beautiful an abundant life can be. I’ve written blog after blog the last 9 months sharing with you all the treasures God is teaching me about this concept.
So if you’ve been keeping up, here’s the latest!
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God gave dreams to people throughout the Bible. I just finished up a study on Joseph, years before coming into power//influence God gave him the visions of where He was going to take Him. As crazy as the vision seemed Joseph was PUMPED. So pumped he ran and told his brothers. Which was then his downfall, but the dreams we’re so crazy that Joseph’s family couldn’t believe Joseph would think such a thing was possible for himself.
The Lord used dreams to convert one of the greatest persecutors of the church into becoming one of the greatest, most accomplished apostles this world has ever known. After speaking down from heaven to Saul and blinding him, God gave Saul visions of a man who would come and lay hands on him that he would regain his sight. (Acts 9:11)
That man, Annais, received the charge to go find Saul through yet another God-sent dream.
God uses dreams to speak to us, to move us, to meet us. I’m convinced. It’s such a beautiful way we can encounter the living God and partner with Him as He brings kingdom to earth in supernatural ways beyond our imaginations.
I’m not just talking about dreams He’s capable of sending to us as we sleep. Though-those are pretty legit. I think He created us to dream. He gives us gifts and passions and desires and I don’t believe it’s so we’ll sit on our behinds, passively holding onto them as if they’re for us to look at or solely admire. It’d be like getting a Christmas present and never opening it, just looking at the pretty wrapping; or opening it and never playing with or using it.
No I believe those things are to equip us and prepare us to think BIG, to hope, and to most importantly USE.
I’ve always been a dreamer. A visionary. Imagining what could be- always. And to the world that seems like a waste of time. It’s seems unrealistic to dream about things that are, by all means, out of my reach. It’s unproductive to dream. Especially when there’s work to be done.
But I am not of this world. (John 17:16) I am of a kingdom whose ruler is the doer of the impossible. (Luke 18:27)
He’s the one who splits seas for his people to walk through. He turns water into wine. He speaks through burning bushes and rains bread from the sky. He’s the one spoke an entire world into creation. He’s the one whose defeated the grave and still raises people from the dead.
I had a revelation a few months back as I was reading through Matthew 9 where Jesus says ” the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few…“
I thought to myself what if the dreams we have, when they are for the advancement of the kingdom, are actually God-inspired. And what if those dreams are actually meant to direct us to the field we were created to harvest? To labor in?
I don’t work for this world, I’m a co-laborer with Christ, for the Kingdom of God. So what if dreaming isn’t a waste of time, what if dreaming is actually my CALL to work?
I think it is. I think God made me exactly the way He tended. With a mind that wanders into the impossible and a heart that’s wild for adventure. He wants to use me in the way that he has made me. So I’m saying yes.
Yes Lord I will dream with you. I will think big, hope bigger, PRAY bigger , and even bigger will my trust be.
(And I promise Lord, no matter how big the dreams or visions you give me, no matter how crazy, I’ll be as pumped as Joseph was 🙂 )
Ephesians 3:20 says
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory” NIV
So if I can measure what’s happening in my life for God’s glory, I want more. I know there is more. He’s word says He is able, able to do IMMEASURABLY MORE, than I could ever dream of.
In ESV the same verse reads;
“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be the glory“
He is able, He is willing, and even my dreams will find abundance for His glory. How crazy is that?
I believe his word is truth. And I believe He will act.
But I know that to see my dreams became a reality, I too need to act. I need to walk in faith to see my Father move.
To be a laborer requires work. Hard work. Especially if we take in context of the language Jesus used of “working in a field”. Manuel labor;harvesting crops… that work takes long hours, day after day, your hands callouse and your body sores.
But I’m ready for it. Because I want to see the seas part and the mountains move.
I wanna see the power of God change lives.
And even if I’m not as ready as I think I am (which is probably the case) HE is. And when I am weak then He is strong. (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Last week my leadership team and I discovered this adorable coffee shop around the corner from our hostel. Everyday for the week we stayed on that side of town we meandered over for our morning coffee.
We made a friends with Andrea, the incredibly kind woman who made our lattes.
Today during a prayer walk with to some girls we made our way back to the coffee shop. Come to find out this coffee shop, is actually hers. And it only opened 3 months ago, until then what’s now her reality was only a dream. She worked 5 years in the coffee industry, learning the art and developing passion and experience. (Laboring in the field- if you will)
Sitting in her coffee shop, watching her radiate accomplished joy, I couldn’t help but feel completely overwhelmed with inspiration. I didn’t get to hear here whole story today, but you can bet I’m going back. Nothing happens on accident and it’s no coincidence I ended up her dream space today, especially during a prayer walk. 🙂
