What an ability... to think, imagine, and wonder

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I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I’m a dreamer! I mean a huge dreamer! I’m not talking about the dreams we have when we are sleeping. I'm not talking about our hopes for the future. I’m talking about our ability to think, imagine, and wonder. My favorite dreams tend to be the impossible ones.

One that has endured since I was a child is my dream of being able to fly. I remember the year my parents had a swimming pool put in the back yard. The pool people came out and dug a giant hole. My brother and I convinced our parents to leave the “mountain” of dirt it created, and it became everything from a giant volcano threatening humanity to a war zone for our Star Wars figures. It was fun, but I had an even more important plan for its use. Each night before bed time, I would go out and stand at the top and run down as fast as I could. When I got to the bottom, I would jump! I just knew if I could jump at the right moment in the right way, I would fly. I don’t have the mountain anymore, but I still have my dream.

Dreaming engages us spirit, soul, and body. It’s very powerful. We were created to be limitless, but due to the fall of man, we are limited and live in a limiting world. Through our ability to dream, we are able to connect with a God we can’t physically see or hear. Through imagination, our souls find the kind of limitless possibilities with which we were meant to live. Our bodies find a place to stretch and move outside of the box we live in every day.  

In Matthew 19:26 NIV, God said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Dreaming opens our heart and mind to believe God for what seems impossible. In Romans 4:17 NIV, it tells us that God “Calls those things which are not as those that are.” God modeled this for us in Genesis 1. The earth was formless and void and dark. But God had a dream, and He began to speak it out of His mouth, and order and light and life came forth!  

I want to encourage you to begin to dream again. If you are facing a challenge, or have a situation where you don’t know what to do, begin to dream. Understand that worry is dreaming; it’s just dreaming the worst. Instead of worrying, give yourself permission to imagine and wonder what God might do in your situation. Remember, faith is the substance of what you are hoping for. So, respond by taking a moment and thanking God for giving you this powerful tool. Then, take action and dream! Write down the things you are dreaming about, or share them with friends. You are going to be amazed at how it changes your life.