Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. –Romans 4:20-21
The Promise
Dreams. Everyone has dreams. I remember wanting to be so many different things as a kid.
I wanted to be a policeman. Then I wanted to be a detective. As I got older I wanted to be a professional baseball player. Then I wanted to be a writer. A worship pastor. And the list goes on. The point is, we all have dreams. But I would argue that there is nothing quite as refreshing as a God-given dream; a promise that comes from The One who cannot lie.
Our culture’s infrastructure is built around dreams. We dream of success. We dream of fame. We dream of changing the world. We dream of living in the suburbs with two or three beautiful children. The reality is that many of our dreams are based on the fact that our culture tells us to dream. Dreaming is great! Having goals is a necessary part of maturing in life. But there is nothing like receiving a promise from God.
Throughout the Bible we see several examples of how powerful God’s promise is. Abraham. Joseph. David. Mary. My favorite is Abraham. The promise was that he would have a son. It was impossible, even laughable. Can you imagine receiving that promise and over the next several weeks and months having to watch other families around you give birth to children as if it were nothing? I’m sure there were times when Abraham became discouraged.
It’s easy to see the success of others and wonder why our promise hasn’t come to pass. That leads us to the process.
The Process
I know from personal experience and from scripture that God prepares us for his promises. His promise is perfect and the process prepares us to steward it correctly. Abraham had many opportunities to doubt. The clock was ticking. He was old. Sarah was old. Everyone else was having children. But Paul writes a fascinating piece in Romans that says Abraham never wavered in believing the promise. Abraham’s faith was not in the promise itself, but in the One who made the promise.
It’s easy to set our eyes on the dream, but the process re.directs our attention to the One who made the promise. Never despise the process. It is what positions our hearts to hold the dream. God wants to know that our heart is for him. Many of us have yet to see those dreams fulfilled in our lives because our eyes are still on the dream.
There was a time in my life several years back when my eyes were completely focused on the dream. I even wrote a song called, “Dreaming.” Guess what? God took me through a process. I broke my ankle, had to quit my job and literally had no life for a several months. The process continued. Once I was able to walk, I moved to Crowley to work at a Christian radio station.
This was the most beautiful part of the process. I ended up living with my grandparents for a year. It was during that year that God completely re.directed my attention toward him. I surrendered the dream to lead worship and my focus switched to developing a relationship with Jesus.
At the end of that year, I was offered a job to lead worship. I didn’t ask. I didn’t apply for it. It was God being true to what he had said. But it didn’t come until I started to value the Promise Maker over the promise itself.
To all the dreamers out there:
His promise is perfect. God will never lie. Regardless of where you are in relationship to the dream know that God will do what he said. Never despise the process. Allow the process to develop in you a heart that can hold the promise. Keep dreamin’!