I love to dream. I love waking up and processing dreams I’ve had the night before. I love day dreaming about the future. Making plans is a fun activity for me. Searching through my calendar, I love to mark down the things I want to do on exact dates. How can I know exactly what I want to be doing on a certain date? Because I am a creature of habit. I choose comfort over uncertainty. The stress and anxiety I feel when I don’t properly plan something out is never worth the time I saved by not sitting down and planning.
Lately, my dreams have been getting in my way. I have spent so much time focusing on dreams and hopes for the future, that I have lost sight of living in the now. When the future seems brighter than the present, you become discontented with what is in front of you. If not properly taken care of, a little seed of resentment for the now can blow into a full sized hate of a perfectly good life.
If this is you, how do you fix it? The other night I had a very real time of prayer. Getting out a piece of paper, I drew a cross on it. Inside, I wrote down every dream I had for the next few years. My dreams are personal and while I rarely speak about them out loud, they are placed deep in my heart and are constantly on my mind. It was not hard to fill the cross quickly with every desire I had. Seeing my dreams listed was a surprise. I didn’t realize how many I had and how strongly I was holding on to them.
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.’” Matthew 22:37-38
Dreams are not bad. Dreams are good and when we love God, He gives us dreams and desires. He fulfills the Godly desires we have in our lives. He is not out to punish or suppress us. However, when our hearts are filled with our dreams and how we can bring them about in our lives, we are not living out His command.
In a few chapters before, Jesus said,
“‘No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.’” Matthew 6:24
Our hearts cannot hold God in first place if they are putting our needs and desires above Him. My advice is to let go. If you hold on to your desires, you are not able to fully devote yourself to God and love Him. This does not mean you will never have what you want. It means that you are trusting God and giving Him complete control over your life. When you do this, you will find that you are more joyful. Sitting down and writing out my list of dreams was difficult. Dying to myself daily still is. Asking God to help me focus on Him and His work is something I have to train myself to do. However, since that night, I have felt lighter. My concern about the future has been minimal. Not having to worry about what lies ahead is a blessing.
So take these next few Bible verses and let them be an encouragement and guide for you when it comes to the future, hopes, dreams, and plans.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
“May He give you the desire of your heart, and may all your plans succeed.” Psalm 20:4
“Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:33-34