As children, we were told to dream big, shoot for the stars, and take hold of the future that is just waiting for us to arrive. So we dreamed about becoming doctors or daddies or authors or NBA stars or mommies or drummers or astronauts or teachers or artists or a million other heroic aspirations.
We boldly told others about what we would do and who we would become – bravely painting the picture for them so they could see it too. Some would smile brightly and encourage us to keep dreaming and practicing and working hard – telling us how much they believed in us. But the smile of others might have been more like a sneer and their words might have been more of discouragement – telling us we weren’t the type or smart enough or talented enough to reach such high stars.
Ouch!
If you were like me, despite my best efforts to shut them out, the voice of the discouraging would often out-shout the voice of the encouraging in my heart. I was tempted to stop dreaming, believing, reaching for those God-given dreams planted deep inside. The temptation was to believe that person saw a lack in me that I was somehow blind to. I was tempted to stop, settle, and perhaps even to agree with the lie of discouragement. And, honestly, I did stop dreaming for several years – falling to the temptation to think the same thing; the same way as the skeptics.
Until a friend encouraged me to become that beautiful dreamer again – to remind myself of what my Father thinks.
Clear lots of ground for your tents! Make your tents large. Spread out! Think big!
Use plenty of rope, drive the tent pegs deep.
You’re going to need lots of elbow room for your growing family.
You’re going to take over whole nations; you’re going to resettle abandoned cities.
Don’t be afraid – you’re not going to be embarrassed.
Don’t hold back – you’re not going to come up short.
You’ll forget all about the humiliations of your youth,
and the indignities of being a widow will fade from memory.
Isaiah 54:2-4
Not only does the Lord speak encouragement to us, he does it with certainty about the outcome! He tells us to dream big. Run hard. Laugh loud – louder than any cynic – because he is confident about the result. If our God is for us, who can be against us?! If he is the planter of dreams and the God of good promises, who are we to doubt the outcome?
Let’s join our voices to his. Let US be the ones who out-shout the voices of the discouraging and cheer one another on toward all that God has planted in our hearts. Confident dreamer…bold visionary, it is time to be adventurous again. Clear the ground, stretch out, and entrust your dreams to the One who planted them in your heart in the first place. He has good plans for you and is confident of the outcome, so you can be too. After all, the God of big dreams and good promises wants you to remember that…
You are adored.
You Are Adored 