by Brandy Webb

I loved to daydream about my future when I was younger. When you are young everything is possible, so my dreams were endless. Unfortunately, though, as I have aged and “reality” happened, I have lost the ability to dream big. Now, I’m not about to preach some “get rich” doctrine. No, big dreams don’t necessarily mean wealth because what makes people content doesn’t always revolve around money. Being content with much and being content with little is a huge dream of mine. I admire Paul that he was able to live a life of contentment (Phil 4:12). Who wouldn’t want that?

I am trying to learn, now, how to dream of what I hope God wants in my life. I feel that, in this world, people dream mostly of success, money, and power, but how many people actually try to figure out what God wants them to dream about? How many of us ask God where He wants us to be in five years?

When Josh and I decided to farm, we really wanted to do it because we felt that God wanted us to do it. He is an agricultural God. All throughout the Bible are references to harvesting, feasting, gathering, tilling, plowing, etc. So, we wanted to not only do this for our family in hopes of providing a good source of food, but also because, in the Bible, working the land is important.

We had this dream/goal, and we prayed about it and gave it to God. We wanted Him to direct our steps. As it states in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (ESV); and then again it reiterates it in 16:11, telling us to “commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

This is exactly what we wanted to do with the farming dream and everywhere else in our lives. We wanted the Father to establish our paths and make them straight, and in order for that to happen we had to trust Him and commit our works to Him. Now, fast forward nine years. We are still “farming.” We still believe God is directing our paths, but it wasn’t like everything just fell into place. I do know that we have grown a lot in the last nine years, and we still have a lot of growth to go, like a tree that takes years to reach maturity.

The one point of growth that I really need to learn is that even if it doesn’t seem like my dreams are going to come true, that doesn’t mean God’s plans for my life aren’t going to happen. That is why I must fully give my dreams to Him. He knows the plan He has for my life (Jer 29:11). He is the potter and I am the clay (Isa 64:8); therefore, His design for me is far more beautiful than my design. His ways are not my ways (Isa 55:8); therefore, I really want my dreams to get in line with His plans for my life.

So, as I get older, I still want to daydream, and I want to give my dreams to God. For nothing is impossible when God makes things happen (Matt 19:26). I want to trust that He can not only make my dreams happen, but He can also change them if they aren’t in line with His plans, causing something even more beautiful than my dreams to occur. I also want to have the strength and patience to wait on Him to make the dreams become reality. To not give up hope. God works in a totally different time zone than us, and sometimes it may take years to finally reach a goal.

But don’t become weary. Do not go faint. He will strengthen us to endure as we run this race called life, and remember the most important dream is to make it to His Kingdom. Everything else in this life is secondary.