I am a dreamer.
Dreaming is woven into the very fabric of my being. It’s not something I’ve had to work at or try and develop over time, it’s the seemingly child-like side of my imagination that I never allowed to go dormant. Well, if I’m going to be honest, it really had nothing to do with me at all. God never allowed that side of my mind to go dormant.
Even as I entered into adulthood and wrestled with it and tried to shut it down, effortlessly, creatively, and as detailed as if they were alive, dreams would burst out of me. I internalized them though, not daring to speak them out loud for fear that my wild imaginations would be ridiculed and mocked. For years I fought to keep them at bay and when I lost that fight, I kept them bottled up inside.
Until one day everything changed. While reading The Fourth Dimension by Yonggi Cho, I read a statement that literally leapt off of the page and knocked the wind out of me. I sat frozen, staring at the black ink. Could it be? Could it be that the very thing I was ashamed of and felt was a hinderance to my spiritual growth and maturity was, in fact, a valuable asset in my relationship with God?
“Dreaming is the language of the Holy Spirit.”
This concept rocked me to my core. It was as if the years of turmoil caused by my over-active imagination, and the internal arguments I’d have telling myself to grow up and stop day dreaming, suddenly vanished. In an instant a peace flooded my heart, and over the weeks and months that followed, an embracing and valuing of the mind God had given me settled over me.
In the years since, I have put time and effort into learning to effectively dream. Hearing the soft whispers of the Holy Spirit when a new thought invades my mental movie screen, recognizing when a dream isn’t of the Lord at all and learning to give those ones an abrupt end, and developing an awareness of when my imagination is most in tune with the voice of the Holy Spirit and, in contrast, what influences it to run off into the night with a storyline that is just plain ridiculous.
Running a marathon, starting a Creative Arts Studio, designing and opening a small cafe, blogging, songwriting, assisting other people to pursue their destiny, decorating a room, leading the church in worship, empowering others to take on greater responsibility… you can be sure that wherever I’ve had the opportunity to put my hand to something, dreaming has been an essential component to seeing it come to pass.
Want to cultivate the language of dreams in your life? Here’s four simple steps to help you keep your dreams in focus.
1. What are you dreaming? (Psst… Push out any thoughts that are contrary to the Word of God.)
2. Be aware of when your dreaming is most active and guard that time.
3. Value dreaming by adding it to your daily routine.
4. Pick an area of your life that you want to see change come to, and dream… over and over again, specifically about what that change will look like.
Dreamers can see a finished product so clearly that the steps needed to take to get there, come into focus. Dreamers are able to say “no” when amazing ideas come their way, when those idea distract from the final result they are aiming for. Dreamers can see the potential in others and align their thoughts with the Holy Spirit to dream into someone else’s destiny.
Happy dreaming!
(originally published 11/12/2014)
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