What would you do if money didn’t matter? It’s an odd, speculative question to ask yourself, but I think it might be important.
In all honesty, it is easy to be cynical and call it a waste of time because money does matter. Everything costs money and therefore there is a natural limit to what we are actually capable of. I have often been asked this question, and most of the time I shrug and say “I don’t know”. But isn’t that kind of pathetic? In my own case, and perhaps you relate, it’s an automated response of fear and defiance. By saying “I don’t know” I actually miss out on exercising faith and executing good, thought-through, prayed-through decisions. Yet it seems easier not to engage the thought because the fear that it might never happen, or that dreams never come true, is holding me back. But as hard as it is is to get past that mental barrier, trying to answer this question is actually important. It will help you uncover the desires you have for your life.
Now the idea of my desires presents another roadblock that I need to tackle before I dive into this brainstorm. The desires of our hearts is a biblical principle. It says in Psalm 37 that if we delight ourselves in the Lord, he will give us these desires. The question is, how do you find the balance of embracing and looking for these desires without building your own kingdom? It is often and widely encouraged amongst Christians to “dream big”, “follow your God-sized dream” and so forth, but it is of utter importance that we make sure that what we pursue is indeed a God-dream. The danger is to be so consumed with our own ideas and our own image and our own goals that we start laying brick upon brick in our own kingdom. Yet again, fear of becoming self-consumed gets in the way of even trying to uncover the dreams and desires that God might have put in our hearts. The potential to wander astray from the humble, surrendered life of a Jesus-follower is very real, but it is not an excuse to do nothing. That’d be like the servant who burried his master’s talent for fear of doing it wrong. What if it is truly possible to stay humble and follow Jesus and experience fulfillment of dreams and desires in your life?
Ephesians 3:20-21 says “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us..” Let’s pause right there. Exceedingly, abundantly, above all that we ask or think – that is a lot. Doesn’t it sound to you like an invitation to dream and pray as big as you can? Big dreams don’t have a definition. What’s big and exciting to you and are you asking God for it? Let’s continue to read “to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” Okay, so there’s a purpose tied to this. To God be the glory. This verse provides a way for us to examine the dreams in our heart. Will this glorify God? Am I in a place, spiritually, where pursuing this dream would bring me (and perhaps others) closer to the Lord and so glorify him?
This is just a quick thought on dreaming with the Lord. It is an enormous topic and this little writing does not even cover a percentage of what could be said. But I am going to ditch “I don’t know” and go brainstorm some dreams with Jesus. If you’re gonna do the same, I’d love to hear what you come up with 🙂