Welcome to Facets of Faith and a fresh new year bursting with possibility. Let me (Tracy) be one of the first to wish you a Happy New Year on behalf of our team!  Another year has come and gone.  Can you believe it?

What would this year look like if we started with a dream rather than a resolution?  Resolutions are easily broken, but dreams can be realized.

Dreams are achieved when we step out in faith with intention. Generally, our desires don’t just drop from a cloud like rain.  Fulfillment of our dreams requires our participation.

Let’s look at some of the ways we can participate with God to realize our dreams.

#1.  Permission to explore our dreams by faith

A great place to start is by giving ourselves permission to embrace the dreams God has for us.  Dreams aren’t impractical. Dreams aren’t futile. Dreams are a lifeline to a fulfilling life. There may be naysayers. Pay them no mind!  Permission to dream requires faith God has something good specifically assigned and designed for each of us.  He does!

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.─Hebrews 11:1 NIV

The very idea of a dream is something not yet seen.  Just like God gave Joseph a vision for his life, God has a vision for our lives as well.  It might be fuzzy, or perhaps we see it with great clarity. Either way, we should hold tight to the confidence that Christ Jesus does, in fact, have things we should hope for in this life as well as for eternity.  We have permission to dream, because we serve a God who is full of great possibility.  As His child, that means we are full of great possibility too!

P.S. If the dream feels ridiculously large and outrageous, that might very well be in line with the heartbeat of God.  Scripture gives us many examples of the impossibly large and ambitious achievement happening when one individual leaned into what God had for him or her.

#2.  Pray as we pursue our dreams

The best dreams to work toward are those inspired by God. We don’t want to serve false idols and chase futile dreams.  As we pray, God instructs us.  He gives us the desires of our heart, not like a genie in a bottle. Rather, He aligns our heart with His.  And when our hearts are aligned with His, so too, are our dreams.  The things we desire shaped in the quiet moments with God.

Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.─Psalm 37:4 NIV

When I was younger, I wanted to write a book. God planted that desire in my heart. However, He didn’t let it come to fruition back then. Can I tell you? I am grateful!

Had I published a book in my 20’s it would have been something likely to have caused me embarrassment today. The desires of my heart weren’t aligned with God’s then. He protected me from myself and my foolish desires.  The idea to write a book wasn’t foolish, but any topic I would have written about would have been.

That’s something good to keep in mind when we feel like it’s taking too long to achieve our dream. Perhaps it’s not for now.

Sometimes it is. Sometimes it is not.

How will we know?

Pray. It’s not only a great place to start; it’s a great place to continually pursue God’s heart, instruction, and timing.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.─1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

I love writing prayers out in my prayer journal. The process of writing them slows me down long enough to help me listen. I’m a talker, and I move fast. If I feel like something is from God, I want to get moving – now!   Prayer protects me from being too impulsive and rushing ahead of God.

Prayer doesn’t need to be overly complicated (although we often make it so). How would you talk with your best friend? Use that as a model for how you can pray to God. When we are with our friends, we have a conversation. We take turns talking.  Otherwise, it’s just a monologue.

Writing my prayers helps me move from monologue to dialogue.

As I processed the dream God is unfolding in my heart, I wrote a question as a prayer.

What do you want me to do?

Pretty short and sweet, right? Who can’t pray a heartfelt prayer like that? It took seconds.

What I felt God put on my heart about my dream is this:  research and rest.

God isn’t complicated (even though He is complex).

I knew what I needed to do from taking only a few minutes out to hear what He had to say.

Research and rest were my instruction from above.

You might think a word like “rest” would make a woman like me (and perhaps you) a little nutty.  Who wants to sit around and do nothing?  Some people, perhaps, but I’m not one of them.

How can a “doer” be okay with a word like “rest”, especially when there are dreams at stake?

That leads me to point number three in our pursuit of dreams.

#3.  Practice stillness in pursuit of our dreams

The practice of stillness in pursuit of our dreams is a gift from God. His gift helps us abide in His peace.  The alternative to resting in Him is to encounter chaos as we engage in useless striving.

One of the lessons I’ve learned over the course of my walk with God is this: He is a God of order. He doesn’t operate out of chaos.  And I can’t hear Him very well if that’s the place I’m operating from.

In order to hear Him properly, I need to be still.

He says, “Be still and know that I am God.”─Psalm 46:10a NIV

Call me Crazy. I actually love the Scripture above. I’ve learned to embrace it, because I had the opportunity to experience it as a gift first hand, and in a very meaningful way.

I was helping run a home for human trafficking survivors. I was in over my head, but always felt God holding my hand.  Before we’d opened the home, I’d felt that Scripture was one of the ones that was to be in the house as a visual reminder to me (as well as to staff and the women we served too).

Whenever there was a hard day in the pursuit of my God-given dream, I’d look at those words and be reminded. God’s got this!  If I am still and rest in God, He will do the heavy lifting. He will reveal Himself as God. His glory will be revealed. Because He’s that good!

He doesn’t want me or you to carry any heavy burden in pursuit of His plans for us, our dreams. He will shoulder the weight as long as we make the conscious choice to be still.  It’s about choosing peace, not about inactivity.

I promise you when God had me on mission in the safe house, there was never a dull moment. There was much to do, but the being still helped me know how to do it.  In that stillness, God gave instruction. I never felt alone. He was nearer to me than a breath. It was one of the sweetest seasons I’ve had with Him, even as it was also one of the hardest.

But He was faithful to reveal Himself to me as I achieved that dream with Him, listening to the still, small voice who helped me not to fall flat on my face (even as I made mistakes in my humanness).

Now, when God tells me to “Be Still”, I easily can. I know what that really means. Rest in Him. He’s got the rest.  And from that position of perfect peace which truly doesn’t make sense sometimes, He’ll help me to know what to do even as He helps me to encounter Him in a deep, meaningful fashion.

What if that’s what pursuing our dreams with God is really about?  What if it’s about going on a journey with Him to encounter Him? I believe in large part that’s exactly what pursuit of our dreams is about.  We get to encounter the living, loving God who made us on purpose and for a purpose.

Maybe you don’t think that’s true for you.

Keep reading.

#4.  Remember God’s promises in pursuit of our dreams

It makes me incredibly sad when people don’t think God has a plan for them. If that’s you (or if you need reminding), God does have plans for you.  You might not know exactly what those plans are yet (totally okay), but His promises say He has plans for you.

He wants us to dream.  Imagining what could be is part of the fun.  Pursuing dreams should be fun, even if there’s work involved. When we are in that place of imagining, God can inspire us. Trust Him.  Trust He’ll help you recognize what those dreams He desires for you are.  Trust, too, that He’ll help you achieve them.

He’s a creative God and He has specific things only you can do.  Those things look very different from what He has for me or anyone else for that matter.  They’re your assignment, not anyone else’s.

If you’ve encountered Scripture for any length of time, you’re likely familiar with these words.  But just because they’re familiar, don’t let their significance slip past you.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”─Jeremiah 29:11 NIV

If we have hope of pursuing our dreams, we need to believe this to be true FOR US.  These aren’t just words on a page.  They are God’s promise to you.  They’re God’s promise to me as well.

Raise your arm and place your hand all the way out in front of you as if you are reaching to open a door.

Just past where your fingertips reach is where your dreams await.  It’s a hope. Dreams are “out there” in the future.  Once they’re realized, God will give us new ones.  It’s how we grow.

What door might God open for you if you reach for your dreams?  Just beyond the door is where hope lives. Just beyond the door is your destiny waiting to be fulfilled.  When we reach for our dreams, we reach for our God-given future.  Only He knows what fully lays ahead, but if we reach for our future with His help, we can achieve what it is He has for us.

Perhaps, there is a deep root of unbelief that God desires to chop thru right here and now.  When we believe the lies of the enemy, it makes it hard for us to believe God’s truth is for us.  Satan plants seeds of doubt and unbelief in the soil of lies he tells us in his language designed to paralyze us from pursuing our dreams.  Satan places roots of insecurity, of not good enough, of you’ll never amount to anything, or that’s impossible and nothing but a pipedream into our hearts and minds.

But here’s the thing…

We need to make a conscious choice not to believe a single one of his lies!  If the words we say to ourselves or the ones others have spoken over us make it feel impossible to believe God could give us a dream and really desire for us to achieve it, listen to me.

Dismiss those words!

The devil would love to destroy your dreams.  Don’t let Him!

Here is a weapon to fight back with, another of God’s promises we are challenged to believe on our good days, as well as our bad ones.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.─Psalm 139:14 NIV

Even if you don’t believe it at first, speak it aloud as if you do.  These words are ones God says about you, and they’re powerful.  You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are one of His works and He finds you wonderful. Praise Him for that.  Praise Him until you know it full well.

Put an index card or a sticky note on your mirror, in your car, in your desk drawer, on your fridge, wherever you will see it.  Write this on it:

I am fearfully and wonderfully made. I am one of God’s works and He finds me wonderful.  Imagine the dreams I can achieve with Him when I fully believe these things.  I pray, God, that You help me believe I am fearfully and wonderfully made as we pursue Your dreams for me.  Thank You for making me in Your image, wonderful indeed.  In Jesus’ name. Amen!

Say it aloud each day until it becomes truth you believe, really believe.

I have wrestled with insecurity, but it has only been when I believed what God says about me that I’ve been able to look past myself and toward others in pursuit of my God-given dreams.

Knowing who we are in Christ gives us confidence to step out boldly in pursuit of God and the dreams He has for us.  Confidence gives us courage.

#5.  We must take courage in pursuit of our dreams

If God gives us a dream, I can almost guarantee it’ll be big.  It’s how He reveals Himself as God.  When a dream is beyond our ability, beyond our capabilities, God demonstrates Himself as real.  He is the power source and the only way a big dream becomes possible.

That sounds great on paper.  But when we are living it as part of the reality of our life, it can feel terrifying at first.  I’m a bit of a thrill seeker and still there are times when my knees have knocked together at the idea of stepping into a dream, my destiny really, with God.

God has stretched and grown me so much in those times.  Because we’ve pursued big dreams together, I’ve grown closer to Him. I’ve grown to hear His voice with greater clarity. I’ve grown to chase after a big dream … as long as He’s in it and leading it!

How?

I sought the LORD, and he answered me;

            he delivered me from all my fears.

Those who look to him are radiant;

            their faces are never covered with shame.

This poor man called, and the LORD  heard him;

            he saved him from all his troubles.

The angel of the LORD encamps around those who fear him,

            and he delivers them.

Taste and see that the LORD is good;

            blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

─Psalm 34:4-8 NIV

God delivers us from our fears. Not just some of them. All of them. He knows fear is debilitating to us and to the fulfillment of our dreams.  But there are sometimes I’ve had to “do it afraid”.  It can feel like cliff diving into turbulent seas below.  Trembling, I approach the edge and peer over, perched a little too high for comfort.  I have no idea what’s beneath the choppy waters as white caps rise up taunting me.  But in a moment of bravery I think to myself, here goes nothing!  Dive. Splash. Come up for air. Wow! That was pretty cool. A bit of adrenaline helped me do it as the blood of Christ coursing through my veins gave me the courage to leap.

But it’s important for us not to leap hap hazardously.  Safety in the leaping lies only when we hear God’s voice saying, “Now! Leap now!”  It’s in our seeking we find safety.

I love the picture of the angel of the LORD encamping around me. It gives me great courage to jump off the edge and into what God has for me.  And when I have done that, I have tasted and seen the goodness of the LORD. I have had encounters with Him I would not have otherwise had if I hadn’t taken courage and leapt into what He had for me.

Encountering God in the midst of our dreams is exhilarating.

And after we jump once, it gets a little easier. We know we can take refuge in the One who encourages us to taste and see that He is good. He blesses us when we do.

#6.  God’s timing is imperative in pursuit of our dreams

Think about how fast 2019 came. Doesn’t it seem like we only recently ushered in 2018? Time marches forward quickly. If we aren’t careful, we could let time tick by and miss what God has for us.

We take time for granted, like it will always be there on our side.  But what would life look like if we thought of time as a limited and valuable resource?

Yes, we have all of eternity to live for Christ.  But the time He’s allotted for each of us here on earth eventually runs out. We won’t always be here. We won’t always have an opportunity to pursue Him and His plans for us here on earth.

Our dreams have an expiration date and so do we.

If we remain connected to God and His desires for us, we are far less likely to one day lie on our death bed lamenting about what could have been. Regrets happen when we don’t walk in the reality of Christ’s sacrifice for us. He paid a high price for us to live this life. Shouldn’t we live it?

Dream big. Don’t waste time. A day spent today is gone forever. Did you do something to pursue Christ and the dreams He has for you? It’s not too late to begin living life in that light. Today can be the first day you live, really live, in pursuit of your dreams. It’s your destiny.

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”─James 4:13-15 NIV

Even as it’s important not to squander time, it’s equally imperative we don’t go running ahead of God in pursuit of our dreams either.  We want to walk in wisdom with the Lord as we engage in His plan─not ours.  That includes His timing. Sometimes, God is working something out in us, preparing us in some way for what He has next.

We want to learn the lessons He has for us in this season in anticipation of what He has for our future.  Only He knows what we need when we need it.

When I was first called to work with deeply traumatized women, God needed to consecrate me. There were many lessons in “dying to self” before I ever stepped foot in that safe house. Waiting was for me. It was for them too. God had me closely connected to Him, and He did not let me deviate what felt like an inch to the left or the right.

It was my dream to help these women, but it was also part of God’s plan to help me do that effectively.

I needed to learn how to listen, really listen, to His voice. He needed to check for my obedience. Would I listen? Quickly? Or would He need to repeat Himself?  He couldn’t release me until I was prepared to move with Him, at His slightest nudge.

If He’d have released me too early, I could have caused great harm.

If He’d have released me too early, I’d have collapsed from the weight of feeling too responsible for outcomes.

Instead, God gave me the gift over time and before I engaged He encouraged me with this statement:

You are responsible for your obedience. I (God) am responsible for the outcome.

For a woman who tends to put too much responsibility on herself, God needed to liberate me, so I could help bring freedom to women by pointing them to Christ.  My dream required me to listen and obey.  My dream required me not to wear a false sense of responsibility.

Wait for the LORD;

            be strong and take heart

            and wait for the LORD.

─Psalm 27:14 NIV

It takes restraint to take heart and be strong enough to wait for the LORD to fulfill our dreams. Our willingness to wait is a measure of how much we trust God to do what He says He will.

Do we trust God enough to wait when He asks us to?

If you are feeling brave you can pray words I’ve prayed for myself, as protection, really.  I do not want to fall in a pit of failure, because I outpaced God’s plan for my life by running ahead of Him. I’ve asked God not to promote me until He knows I’m ready. I don’t want to hurt myself or someone else, because I charged ahead before God had taught me what I needed to know in order to carry out my calling.

I never want my dream to die because I destroyed it. Sometimes, that requires me to be strong and take heart while waiting on the Lord.

Here’s the prayer:

Lord, You alone know what You have ahead for me in pursuit of my dreams. Please do not promote me until You know I am ready. Help me to hear Your voice and Your heart in this matter. Show me Your good plans. Give me the desires of my heart. And show me when I’m ready. Don’t let me move forward until I am, but also help me to step forward boldly when You say, “The time is now.” In Jesus’ name, Amen!

#7.  God gives us responsibility in pursuit of our dreams

When God gives us a dream, He gives us the responsibility of achieving it (in His strength).

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.─1 Peter 4:10 NIV

A God-given dream is given. It’s His gift to us. But it’s also His gift to others.

Rest assured a dream from God has servanthood at its heart. Yes, He loves you and cares about you greatly. His plan is to use others in your life to show you how much.

But do you know what that means?

He also desires to use us to do that for someone else. Many someone else’s.

If our dream doesn’t somehow serve others, we should pause and seek God to see if it’s from Him.

He will bless us, but He doesn’t want our efforts to be self-serving. We are to be stewards, faithful stewards.

Consider this: If God has given us a dream (and He has even if we haven’t recognized it yet), He wants us to steward it well. We have responsibility to faithfully pursue the dreams God plants in our hearts.

He has entrusted us with our dreams. He wants to do great things in us and through us as a result of them. Will we let Him use us to serve others? Do we trust Him enough to send others to minister to us if we do?

What if someone else’s blessing from God depends on your participation?

God’s dreams will always have roots of His love reaching the lost and lonely, the weary and the brokenhearted.  Will we let Him use us in that way?  Who will be there to do that when we need God’s love and encouragement?

My husband dreamed of having a wife a long time ago now. He never thought he’d have one. His dream was to be married.

As God fulfilled Sam’s dream, He asked Sam to serve. For the role of a spouse is, in large part, to serve the other.  Sam’s dream has stewardship laced throughout it. God stewarded my heart to Sam. Sam has loved me well as part of his dream to have a wife. He’s had to listen and obey the Lord.  He had to wait. He’s prayed. He’s had to have courage to lead a rather strong woman with sacrificial love.

But in all that, I know Sam would say he has been blessed. He had a dream. God made it come true, but I can tell you I am nothing like what Sam had imagined his wife would be like. But God knows what each of us needs, when we need it.

I needed Sam and he needed me … and I’m glad he dreamed that dream of having a wife. I’m glad he pursued me when I was challenging, mistrusting, and prickly. Because he was a faithful steward of my heart, I have learned to love─to receive love first and then be able to give it.

What would my life have looked like if Sam hadn’t had that dream and loved me so well?

A lot different. That’s for sure.

My dreams would have been a lot different too.

Today, God has given us a big dream together. It requires courage, love, prayer, waiting, seeking, & moving forward when God says “go”. It requires imagining and exploring how the dream might unfold, how God might want it to look.

Walking with God toward a dream is exciting.

This year my non-resolution is to pursue God’s dream for me, the very specific dream He’s unfolding. I’m writing a business plan to launch a non-profit. God is casting vision. I’m listening. I’m exploring. I’m letting Him lead and reveal. And I’m doing exactly what He told me to do when I asked Him in my prayer.

I’m resting and researching. It’s how I’ll realize this new dream God has given me.

What do you dream about? Perhaps, God would have you explore the seven points above and take steps toward realizing your God-given dreams.  What is one practical way you can participate with God to achieve your dreams today?  Don’t delay. Your dreams await.

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