I think you have to be a dreamer to go on the World Race.
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule-
I’m certainly not an exception to this one though.
I’ve spent my whole life dreaming. First it was Ireland and Hawaii, Australia and Jamaica. Then it was Mozambique and Nepal, Thailand and Nicaragua. I dream of places I’ve traveled and places I haven’t. I dream of broken people, faces I’ve seen and the ones I’ve only imagined, a life I can’t keep track of and days that stretch on like the Indian Ocean I got to dip my toes in.
There are dreams that keep you from being present where you are, dreams that take away from the moment. But there are also dreams that demand you’re entirely where you are, dreams that prompt engagement and encourage intentionality. I think I’ve learned the difference this year. Actually, I’ve learned that most dreams can do both, that dreams are a paradox.
Everything about Christianity is a paradox; everything about Jesus is, too. Completely God and completely human. Blessed are the poor. He will make the high tree low and the green tree dry. Power in weakness. Full of wonder like children and wiser still. Friend and God, Father and Son, lover and Savior.
I think the dreams the Lord gives us are a part of his paradox, a piece of his mystery. He tells us to go and do all that is our hearts, but he tells us to be content in every situation. He gives us free will, but he asks obedience.
Tricky, tricky. He lets us dream our human dreams while he’s preparing a heaven beyond our wildest ones because He loves us desperately.
God’s glorified in the dreaming, especially the craziest kind. I picture God looking down at me daydreaming about becoming a nurse and a mother, about saving and creating lives in a beautiful place, about writing and singing and painting. I can see Him smiling at His little girl, proud that she knows how free she is to dream, proud of how brave she is to want more.
I’m pretty sure of this, friends. I’ve struggled with it a lot. How wrong of me to wholeheartedly dream of and believe in a big, lovely, beautiful life when I’ve seen firsthand how many people only dream of their next meal? What a twisted perspective, right?
But then I remember how twisted my perspective of blessings is, too. That Julio, the one-legged man I prayed for on the street yesterday, has piles and piles of riches in Heaven that he thanked God for during my prayer. That I can let my new friend bless me with lunch when I blessed her with an impromptu English lesson. That I was born into the top 5% economically- the same top 5% for prevalence of depression and anorexia, autism and heart disease. That my 20-year old friend Sibo at the orphanage got accepted into culinary school. That the devil works through money in America the same way He works through possessing people with his demons in Africa. That not everyone who eats a donut gets diabetes, and not everyone who has money goes to Hell. That the poor in spirit inherit the kingdom of God. That my dreams are nothing compared to the Lord’s dreams for every single one of us. That almost everything is relative, except for the sovereignty of God and the immensity of His love, which are beyond relativity.
So dream your dreams, boys and girls. Men and women. I’ve been doing it for a while now, and it’s going alright. Go do all that is in your heart. Bless people on the way, as much as you’re able to or a little bit more. Don’t forget that the kingdom of God is upside down, and don’t forget that the world is usually wrong. Don’t forget that your Savior believes in you either, and that love lives everywhere. Wanderlust is trendy, but there are a few things that are eternal. Fix your eyes on things above, but I think there’s a reason we were created with peripheral vision too.
And honestly, I can’t think of anything sadder than keeping your dreams to yourself.
