I’m someone who loves vision casting—dreaming—thinking—about the possibilities and potential that we all possess as Jesus followers. Definitely a loaded thought, but we all have the power and potential to make an impact. As the end of 2016 was approaching, I spent some time thinking, reflecting and praying about the journey ahead in 2017. During this time, God put “dream big” on my heart, so I began thinking about what to do with that. So, what does it mean—look like—to dream big? For starters, dreaming big requires each of us to live fully, walk with strength and endurance, looking towards the purpose that Jesus has created us to live for. One of my favorite passages of scripture comes to mind when I think about dreaming big, it’s Hebrews 12. Right out of the gate, in the first 41 words to be exact, we’re told to look to Jesus!
I remember many late night—and early morning—conversations with one of my former roommates where we would just sit and dream! None of those conversations ever went anywhere further than our living room, nonetheless, they were encouraging and all shared the same landing strip—Jesus—and what He could do if we just invited Him into our dreams.
A couple weeks ago I was taken back to some of those late night conversations while I was at Passion in Atlanta. The opening night was centered on Hebrews 12 and endurance. Clearly God was up to something—and still is! What I can’t help but think about is how this whole idea of dreaming big equates so much to the race that is talked about in Hebrews 12. I love how God always pulls things together, especially when you aren’t looking for it, or least expect it.
To run the race that is set before us—to dream big—(Hebrews 12:1) is going to require laying aside EVERY weight, much endurance and fixing our eyes on Jesus!
What does it mean to lay aside every weight? For starters it means more than just our sins. Yes sin can hold us back but there are also many things in our lives that may not be sin that can hinder us from effectively running the race that God has called us to. Some of these hinderances may not merely be just a decision that is right or wrong but a hinderance—weight—that is holding us back.
We’re going to need endurance to push through the obstacles—weights—that will interfere with our race. There will be times that what we are dreaming big about will seem impossible or doubtful. That’s when endurance comes in. Endurance translated into the ancient Greek is “hupomone” meaning determination, refusing to be deflected. We must have that kind of endurance—strength—to dream big with Jesus.
Everything, and I mean everything, we want to dream big about will never be more than just a dream if our eyes are not fixed on Jesus and Him alone! It’s going to be hard. It’s going to be challenging. But more than anything, it will be rewarding and exciting to sit in a season of anticipation knowing that that late night conversation became a little bit more of a reality because your eyes fixed on Jesus.
That’s where I am right now. Literally sitting in an exciting—yet still scary—season of anticipation waiting on what Jesus is going to do next. For the last 6 months I have seen Him and felt Him working in my life as I trust Him just a little bit more. Think of it like this…You walk into a hallway with one key and countless doors. The key you are holding is going to only open one door. But which one? You have to have the endurance and strength—along with patience—to try the key in every door until you find the one that opens.
I know it sounds scary, but honestly, it’s really exciting. Don’t let late night dreams be just late night dreams. Don’t let the race be a constant uphill run. There is nothing greater than dreaming big with Jesus—running with strength and endurance!
Let’s dream big!
It’s worth it!
United. 