by Elissa Macpherson
“God can do anything, you know- far more than you can ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams” Ephesians 5:20 (Message Version)
The ability to day dream is God-given. He masterminded this ability for us to go to the secret place of our inner desires and fantasies. I believe there are more to our dreams and desires beyond the momentary pleasure and indulgent distractions from the every day routine thy provide.
Is it possible God placed these whimsical desires and dreams in your heart as a reflection of the possible you found in the fantastical world of what if? I believe our dreams are the seeds of vision and purpose. Deep desires can propel you beyond your present boundaries and urge you to walk on the waters of the supernatural.
How can you know that dreams are God-given?
First, I believe God-given dreams are born not in the mind but in the heart. God dreams are built on the issues and subjects that make our heart leap, and make our pulse surge involuntarily. Perhaps when you a read a story in the news your heart flares with rage at the injustice? Perhaps you hear a sermon at church and you feel the preacher is talking right at you and excitement builds like lava ready to explode from a volcano? This could be God getting your attention.
Second, God-dreams are the imaginings we do not want to say aloud because they are too wild, and we fear we could be laughed at. They are the dreams we dismiss as childish whims or only for the special people. These could be God dreams because they will require faith, the hallmark of a God dream.
Third, our dream may emerge if we play dot to dot with our heart. For example, when I was a child I loved the fairytale, “The Emperor and the Nightingale”, a story of a beautiful singing bird set in ancient China. At school my favourite subject was social studies, I was fascinated by the seven wonders of the world, especially the Great Wall of China. As a teenager, I would become angry and outspoken when I saw a girl being disadvantaged or discriminated against simply because she was a girl. Years later, a visiting preacher came to our church and told us about the baby girls of India who were being killed at birth because they were girls, girls who would be considered a burden to a family. In that moment, all these experiences, passions like dots joined together to form a vision for my life - the God given dream of adopting a little girl from Asia.
Years later, my husband and I stood with our daughter on the Great Wall of China. Our daughter was adopted from China, her Chinese name is Danying, which means red singing bird. This was far more than I ever had imagined or guessed or requested in my wildest dreams.
Don’t despair if you don’t have a God dream yet. The key here is to chase God not dreams. Psalm 37:4 says, “Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart”. Become so close to God you can hear his heart beat then your heart will start to beat in time with His. You will want what he wants. His sorrow, His joy, His anger and His longings will be absorbed into your being. When His desires mix with your unique passions, personality, abilities and gifts, your dream will be drawn out on the blank canvas of your heart.
This is an excepted from her book, “Beautiful - Lavish Devotions for Women”
Elissa Macpherson is President of the Baptist Women of the Pacific- BWP. She is also an author and speaker. www.lavishpursuits.com
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