As a kid, did you ever see a photo of some impressive place and think, “Wow! I can’t believe that’s real! I want to see this with my own eyes someday”?
New York was a city that I’d always wanted to visit, but I never made plans to go because I didn’t want to go alone. When the 911 Memorial was completed, I longed to see it and pay my respects to the victims and their families. I finally got to visit the Big Apple in December because of a friend who also wanted to go.
As an adolescent, I wanted to be a graphic artist, but I let my mother dissuade me from pursuing art as a career. She could only see me being a starving artist. I couldn’t get her to understand the need for designers of all sorts. Now, I use apps on my phone to create content for social media.
I thought to those little dreams we had when we were kids to be something, to go somewhere, to have something special when we became grownups. Maybe we had a role model we wanted to emulate. Perhaps someone prophesied a great work through us, or we saw a vast need, and we feel that calling rising up now and then.
In any case, you had a positive dream that never really left your heart. Even now, you can hear whispers of that dream wafting through your soul when you reflect on your past.
Do you know that sometimes those dreams and desires were placed there by God?
When He dreamed of creating each of us, He purposed to give us talents, aptitudes, skills, and personalities that will help initiate His destiny and His best for us.
Remember Old Testament Joseph, the boy with one fancy coat of many colors and ten agitated older brothers? He was his dad’s favorite because he was the firstborn son of his favorite wife. We meet him in Genesis 37:1–11 unwittingly starting trouble for himself because of these dreams he kept having.
He didn’t ask for them. Though no one could have known it at the time, God put those prophetic dreams into Joseph’s sleeping mind. They foreshadowed God’s using Joseph to preserve His people and usher them into a geographic region that would cause them and their flocks to flourish.
Before God could use Joseph to save his people, He first had to do some work in him.
He had to humble the boy, who was only 17 at the time (Gen. 37:2) and help him develop character and wisdom. Joseph had to learn to not be afraid to use his gifts and talents as a servant. He also had to develop the mindset that none of it was his, but God’s, and he was only the manager.
It took 13 years for God to make Joseph a man who could manage the agricultural goods and subsequent wealth of an entire nation. But it all started with God and the dreams He gave him.
What about you? Do you have childhood dreams that might have come from God? Look and see.
Whether you are actively working toward that God-sent dream or not, He has a plan for you. He will make sure that you attain His purposes. However, whether you receive all that He has for you is up to you.
You see, as followers of Christ, there is this fine balance between our free will and His sovereignty. We are the only ones on this planet who truly have free will. That’s because we have the Word of God and the Holy Spirit living inside us to enlighten and empower us to practice righteousness. When we sin, it’s a choice.
On the other hand, the free will of unsaved people is limited because of ungodly influences. Unbelievers can be nice and do good things. Sadly, all their good deeds are considered filthy, disgusting, unacceptable to heaven, and insulting to the death of Jesus (Isa. 64:6, Gal. 2:21).
Unregenerate people are captivated by the world, the flesh, and the devil, resulting in their being hopelessly lost, bound by their blindness. The grace of God has to intervene in the darkness and deliver them, just like He delivered us (Rom. 5:8-10).
So—single child of the Living God—you have the power to either act upon the dreams God gave you or to be lazy or indifferent toward them. Know that the benefits and blessings of obeying towards that destiny will not belong to you until you have fully apprehended what He imparted to you.
Now, if you’re going through a major trial as you chase down God’s dream and destiny for you, rejoice! That means He’s shaping and training you for the responsibilities and blessings that are coming with that destiny. (I have to remind myself to rejoice in the midst of God’s training program!)
Don’t despise the small assignments that dash your way as you chase your destiny. Remember everything that Joseph had to learn?
Like He did Joseph, God has to develop us into trustworthy vessels that can carry major responsibilities in a way that glorifies God. We must learn the character, priorities, and integrity that will enable us to handle our blessings without reverting to the flesh.
What talents, abilities, and skills do you have? Did you dream of inventing something, finding a cure for something, making something big and beautiful, or making a change in the world we live in?
Don’t keep casting them aside and wonder what might have happened if you had followed your earliest passions. People need what you have to offer. No matter how long it takes, pray and obey your way into the amazing future which God designed you for!
God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do. Ephesians 2:10 GNT
The people should not think that small beginnings are unimportant. Zech. 4:10 NCV
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