Giving Birth to the Dream

Everyone has a dream. When I was little I had many dreams, what I wanted to be when I grew up changed with each week. One day I would aspire to be an actress, the next I would want to be a Disney animator, the next a star on Broadway. Most of the things I wanted to do had to be with being famous. 

I wanted to be known. 

I wanted to be recognized. 

I wanted people to know my name. 

My dreams have changed now that I'm a little older. I now aspire to much different things. I want to be a wife, a mother, and I want to be used by God. 

The third is what has inspired this post.

The third is what drives my day to day life.

The third is what I want more than anything. 

God has placed dreams in my heart. I believe that they are His dreams, not my own. The things that He has shown me to strive for are not things I could ever have dreamed that I am capable of achieving. The simple fact of the matter is, I am not capable of achieving any of the things that God's called me to. That's where He comes in. The only thing I can do is strive and push for them, not with my own strength but with His. 

My incredible older sister had her first baby this week. Madelyn Alice was born on April 19. Maddie is a beautiful baby girl. In the few days since her birth she has already stolen the hearts of everyone in our family. My sister was in labor for over 28 hours. Her contractions were far apart for most of the day, so when she finally went to the hospital  about 22 hours into labor expecting to be sent home, she was shocked when they told her she was much farther along than anyone of us had anticipated. 5 hours later Madelyn Alice was here.

In my humble opinion the gifts that God gives to us are things that are supposed to grow. The gestation period of a dream is not the same as that of a baby, although at times I wish that were the case. I am confident that the dreams God has placed in my heart are ones that will take years to see the fulfillment of the promise. I am prepared for that. I know things that God has in store are not things that will happen over night. 

I have to mature, both in the natural and in the spiritual. 

I have to keep my eyes focused on the goal. 

I must learn to hear what the voice of the Lord sounds like. 

I have to ponder the promises of God in my heart.

Most of all, I must strive through the pain. I must look past my current circumstances and keep my eyes fixed what the 'I AM' says. 

Giving birth in the natural is something you must push through. It is not something that the woman in labor can control. The baby will come when it is good and ready. The woman cannot command the baby to come forth before it's ready. It would be ridiculous for a woman who is 5-months pregnant to try and force the baby to come. The baby is not fully formed at that time.  The simple fact is, at that point it would cause the baby more harm that good for it to come at that time. 

It's the same with our God-given dreams. Why in the world do we try and 'give birth' to a dream that has not been fully formed. It would do those around the dreamer, and the dreamer themselves, more harm than good.  There are times when an underdeveloped dream is worse than no dream at all. I believe that when a God-given dream is born too soon, it robs the kingdom of God. 

This week as I was watching 'Parenthood'something that the grandfather said struck my heart. I feel it fits perfectly with what the Lord is trying to say through this blog. The grandfather looked at his teenage granddaughter, who has been getting herself in to a whole mess of trouble, and he said to her:

"I dreamed you... And you are not allowed to mess with my dream."

Although this was said as a rebuke from the grandfather, God is more imploring us to not mess with what He has planned. He sees the beginning and the end. He knows what will happen if we do things the way He has ordained them or if we do things our own way. The Father begs us to wait and let the dream grow. Do not awake the dream before it is fully formed.

We, as the dreamers, must be willing to wait on God to form the dream completely. We may think we see the whole picture, but the Lord is saying "Oh, no... what I have is so much bigger!"

I implore you, let God develop His dreams within you. 

His plans are so much better that our own. 

His ways are higher. 

Let Him lead the dream.