Dreaming Large

“Dreaming Large”


What a glorious day! After eight months of the busiest ministry of my pastoral ministry, I loaded up my truck today with my computer, books, and headed to my favorite prayer cabin located outside Palestine, TX.
My goals while here are huge. I am determined to finish writing a book entitled Behold the Faithfulness of God along with penning some other short meditations. I have several books I would like to read and some goals I would like to pray through for and get clarity on for FBC Paradise. In addition, I will be preaching a youth revival for the FBC Palestine during the evening for the next four days.
While driving down highway 287 South this morning I was listening to a preaching tape from Bruce Wilkinson. The longer I listened the more my faith soared and I felt the Lord surging HUGE dreams in my heart. I am no stranger to dreams. As a student from elementary all the way through college, I often stared through the windows and dreamed big dreams from the Lord. I dreamed about things I would do, the woman I would marry, if I would have kids, my future ministry, and goals I wanted to accomplish.
In those days I confess guilt of dreaming my dreams. Often I would sit and ponder dreams I wanted to accomplish and ask God to bless them. Twelve years in the school of brokenness and repeated lessons is humiliation have finally brought me to a place where my dreams are finally God’s dreams. These dreams are bigger than anything I could ever accomplish on my own. God dreams big dreams. Dreams that give Him great glory. Dreams that are beyond natural ability. God’s dreams are large and those dreams have begun to settle in my heart.
My first reaction was one of fear. “Lord, I can’t do that. I can’t manage that dream or conceive of such a dream.” Driving in my truck sanctuary the Lord pounded His dream in my heart and reminded me that He would be the one accomplishing the dream and not me. He continued to reiterate that saying I couldn’t do it put all the focus on me and not Him. So prayerfully I surrendered to His dream no matter how many people doubt. Driving in my truck sanctuary the Lord pounded that His dream in my heart and reminded me that He would be the one accomplishing dream and not me. He continued to reiterate that saying I couldn’t do it put all the focus on me and not Him. So prayerfully I surrendered to His dream no matter how many people doubt. I took the training wheels of ministry off and set out to fully rely on Him and to go as far and fast with Him as He allows. The end result will leave our church and community breathless.
It was not easy for me to join God in this dream. I recall all the times I have dreamed and planned and stepped out on faith only to fall on my face. Again I would get up and then fall on face again. Before long I became more hesitant to step out and to believe the large dreams.
Eight months when we were called to pastor the FBC of Paradise, I had no dream nor any long term vision. This continued for several months. I prayed. I sought. I listened but the vision did not come. I waited but God’s dream remained hidden. Recently, God took the blinders off and allowed me to see the future in part. I was stunned. Then, I began to see that future being realized right before me and [Eph 3:20] became a reality. For the first time in my entire ministry I began seeing God doing “exceedingly and abundantly more than I could ask or imagine.”
All of this has only intensified over the past couple of days. Dreaming God’s large dream and pursuing that dream will be a life long quest. This past Wednesday night I found myself prostrate in our sanctuary pleading with God to give me thirty years as the pastor of FBC. I will be seventy years old then. I have asked God in essence to allow me three decades in pursuit of His dream for our church and my life. This will most likely take up all my active years in serving as a pastor. Yet, what better pursuit than to pursue the large dream of God? What better way to give God all the glory?
What about you? As you sit and read this, what large dream is God planting in your heart? Do you believe Him for it? Do you really believe He has something for you that will stretch you and require more faith than you have ever had? Nothing is impossible with Him. Will you surrender and cross the point of no return as you follow this dream and prayerfully serve to see it become a reality?
God is looking for available servants who will trust Him for large dreams. He is looking for hearts who are willing to believe for what most will say can never be done but God is more than capable of making His dream come true.
God’s dream planted in my heart is about four times the size of the dreams I used to dream. Today I challenge to you sit before the Lord and allow Him to plant a God sized dream in your heart. Write it down. Make it very plain and then pursue that dream with God with caution thrown to the wind. “Then the Lord answered me and said, ‘Record the vision and inscribe it on tablets, that the one who reads it may run. For the vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fail. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay.” [Hab 2:2-3]