Discovering God’s Dream for You

God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. — Ephesians 3:20–21 MSG

Without a dream, you’re not really living — you’re just existing.

God’s dream determines your destiny and defines your dignity. It’s the reason you exist. It’s your purpose for living. Without a dream, your life lacks meaning and direction. Without a dream, you will always struggle with your identity — who you are.

There is nothing more important, after you come to know Jesus Christ, than figuring out God’s dream for your life. It’s only when you discover why God made you and what He wants you to do that life makes sense.

There are many examples of this in the Bible:

• God gave Noah the dream of saving the world from the flood.
• God gave Abraham the dream of being the father of a great nation.
• God gave Joseph the dream of being a leader who would save His people.
• God gave David the dream of building the temple.
• God gave Nehemiah the dream of rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem.
• God gave Paul the dream of going to Rome.

Nothing happens until you start dreaming.

The truth is, everything starts with a dream. Anything that has been created started with somebody dreaming it first. God dreamed up every tree, every mountain, every planet — the whole universe! He dreamed of you too, and then He created you and gave you the ability to be a dreamer. While you can dream up some amazing things, God’s dream is custom-made for you. He gives you the ability to dream of new hobbies, new businesses, and new ministries, to dream about making a difference and changing your community, to dream of impacting the world. It all starts with a dream.

Did you realize there are three types of dreams? A dream can be the thoughts and images you have while sleeping. Not all those dreams are good; some are nightmares. Dreams can also be the passions and ambitions you have while awake, and they are more important than the dreams you have while sleeping.

But the third type of dream, God’s dream for your life, is the most important dream of all.

How do you know whether a dream is from God or whether you’re making it up yourself? How do you know if it’s God speaking or if it’s the big meal you had last night? When I was a kid, I dreamed of being a rock star so I could play the guitar. But that was my dream for me, not God’s dream for me. God had a more important dream, one that went beyond anything I could ask for or think up on my own.

• One way to know if a dream is from God is to determine whether the dream requires faith.

God’s dream will always require faith. It will be so big that you can’t do it on your own. If you could do it on your own, you wouldn’t need faith; and “without faith it is impossible to please God.”1

The second way to know if a dream is from God is to determine whether it aligns with God’s Word. God’s dream will never contradict God’s Word. God will not give you a dream of leaving your family to become a Hollywood star. He won’t give you a dream of cheating in business so you can donate the proceeds to your church’s building program. Again,

• God’s dream will never contradict God’s Word.

A Custom-Made Dream

God has a “good, pleasing and perfect will”2 for your life. It’s not a one-size-fits-all plan. God’s dream for you is personal. It’s custom-made for the way He shaped you.

There are five important factors that make you you. To help you remember them, I created a simple acrostic: SHAPE.

• Spiritual gifts
• Heart
• Abilities
• Personality
• Experiences

You are the only person in the world with your unique, God-given SHAPE. That means you are the only person who can fulfill God’s dream for your life. Not only is God’s dream personal, it is also positive. It’s a plan “to prosper you and not to harm you... to give you hope and a future.”3

How do you figure out what God’s dream is? Let’s look at five steps based on the five letters of the word dream.

DEDICATE ALL YOUR LIFE TO GOD

If you want God to show you His dream for your life, then you must be willing to do whatever God wants you to do, even before He tells you to do it. Don’t say, “God, show me what you want me to do, and then I’ll say yes.” Just say yes, and then He will show you what to do.

Romans 12:1 says,

Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service.4

To discover God’s will, the Bible says you must “offer” yourself to God. That means you must dedicate every part of your life — your time, your talents, your treasures, your relationships, your past, your present, and your future — to God’s purposes. Sacrifice your agenda for His. Release control of your life to Him.

The Bible goes on to say,

Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God — what is good and is pleasing to Him and is perfect.5

To conform means to fit something into a mold. To transform means to change something from the inside out — and there is a huge difference between the two. God wants to transform you by changing the way you think about Him, yourself, life, and the world around you. The number one reason people miss God’s dream is because they are trying to fit in with the rest of the world. They become a carbon copy of somebody else instead of being the person God made them to be.

If you want to get serious about figuring out God’s dream for your life, then you have to decide if you’re going to conform or be transformed. Are you going to settle for the “good life” or God’s life, the world’s standards or God’s standards?

Hebrews 12:1 says,

Let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back... and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.”6

God has a particular life course for you to run. If you are always looking at other people, you’ll end up trying to run their race, and there’s no way you can win that one. To know God’s will, you have to stop conforming to the world’s standards and let God transform you into the person He designed you to be.

1. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV).
2. Romans 12:2 (NIV).
3. Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV).
4. (GNT).
5. Romans 12:2 (GNT).
6. (TLB).

Excerpted with permission from Created to Dream by Rick Warren, copyright Rick Warren.

* * *

Your Turn

Do you have a dream for your life? Has God directed you with a dream for what you are to do or to be? It’s going to take a lot of faith to get there! Lean into Jesus today and trust that He will be with you every step of the way if you follow Him! ~ Devotionals Daily