“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” - C. S. Lewis
Dreaming...
Do you remember a time when anything seemed possible? A time, probably as a young child, that your parents and teachers all told you that you could be anything you wanted to be? I know I do! I was going to be the next Britney Spears, the next big pop star! (So grateful that the Lord says, “No” sometimes, amen?) Maybe you were sure you’d be the president or a painter or a superhero!
As we entered middle school, our dreams seemed to shift a bit- we wanted to become doctors, lawyers, teachers, or the next big pop star. As young teens and pre-teens, we heard the world begin to tell us something different than, “You can be anything you want to be.” We felt the pressure to be more “practical”; this idea followed us into high school then college and now, into our adulthood. Now, I’m not saying that having or dreaming of a “practical” job is bad by any means, rather that many of us gave up on our wildest dreams to have stability, security, and comfort.
So often we seek stability in our job status, relationship status, and financial status, instead of finding it in the only stable One. The reason that there is freedom to dream big and bold is because Christ is the foundation for our lives. He placed big dreams in us as children for a reason and a purpose, and we can fully rely on Him as we chase Him and let Him bring those dreams to fruition.
So, what does this have to do with worship?
How does dreaming big dreams affect our worship?
First, living out audacious dreams cause us to rely on the Lord in a new way. So don’t stop dreaming. Keep going. Get practical. Chasing a dream could be painful, and stretch you financially, but if Christ is in it, then he’ll be there with you all the while comforting and providing in unique ways. Living out an audacious dream is kind of stepping out of the of the boat and walking out onto the water - but you need to trust God to sustain you and keep you afloat.
Secondly, when we walk in new freedom in worship and invite the Lord to let us dream within the context of worship, we can step into a fresh place of encountering Him. Often, dreaming can simply be saying, “I want something grander than what I’ve got. I don’t want to stay where I am. I want to live within fullness God!” We let our experiences (or lack thereof) shape our theology, and that just cannot be the case. What if the Lord wants to meet with us the way He did the apostles at Pentecost (Acts 2)? Or what if He wants to come like a pillar of fire as He did in the Old Testament (Exodus 13)? Or what if He want to release the shekinah glory that the priests were overtaken by when Solomon finished the temple, and the presence of God came like a gold cloud (2 Chronicles 7)? Or what if He wants us to just lay silently before Him as He overwhelms us with His presence (1 King 19)?
There is freedom to say, “Holy Spirit, come and do whatever You want to!” There is freedom to say, “I have yet to experience and know the fullness of the Lord.” There is freedom to join with David and say, “One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). There is freedom to stand in agreement with Paul who prayed for you saying, “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:17-19).”
May we dare to dream...
May we dare to dream AND believe that there is more to God than we have known and that He wants us to know the fullness! And may we also live, knowing that our Father has given us freedom to dream as audaciously as we want- we can’t dream bigger or better for our lives than He already has.
Challenge
I want to challenge all of you to pray two prayers out of this place- first, don’t be afraid to pray a prayer of fully surrendering the box you may have put Holy Spirit in. I challenge you to open up to allowing Him to come and do whatever He wants to! Second, ask Him if there are any dreams that you’ve left behind that He wants you to take hold of again! Let Him stir up your childhood dreams.
Thanks for reading! God Bless!!
RECOMMENDED TRACK OF THE WEEK: "May We Never Lose Our Wonder" by Bethel Music
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