Waiting For Your Dream

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Some time ago, when my wife Betsy and I were waiting for God to bring about something we believed He had promised us, Betsy taped this verse to our bathroom mirror—

At the time I have decided, My words will come true. You can trust what I say about the future. It may take a long time, but keep on waiting—it will happen! (Habakkuk 2:3)

Keep on waiting.

You might be able to relate to that statement. Perhaps you say, “I am waiting. And waiting, and waiting, and WAITING…!”

But let me ask you something: What are you doing while you’re waiting?

Did you know that the Hebrew word for “waiting” here can also mean to ambush? That means you need to be doing everything you can do now to capture God’s promised dream when it arrives. As John Wooden used to say, “When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.”

What do you need to do to ambush and capture your dream?

  • Learn a skill?
  • Take a class?
  • Get a degree?
  • Forgive someone?
  • Get out of debt?
  • Find a partner?
  • Volunteer your time?
  • Improve your waiting skills?

How do you improve your waiting skills? Check out this well-known verse—

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…. (Isaiah 40:31)

Wait upon the Lord.

This is not a passive activity. This doesn’t mean to put your feet up, take it easy, and just lounge around until God finally decides to show up.

This word for “wait” has a different definition.

Have you ever dined at a really nice restaurant? In those high-priced restaurants, one of the things that makes the dining experience so nice is the staff who serves you. They anticipate your every need, they seem to be there just when you need them. They’re not late in arriving, nor are they rushing you along. They are WAITING on you!

This is what Isaiah is saying: When we wait on the Lord we are actively serving Him. We are trying to anticipate what He wants us to do. We’re not late and we’re not rushing Him along. We just want to give Him our very best service.

So if you are waiting (and waiting, and waiting!), make sure you’re making good use of your waiting time. Serve God with all you’ve got, and then make sure you’re ready to ambush your dream when God brings it to you in His perfect timing. God said it:

“Keep on waiting—it will happen!” 

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7 Quotes From “Dreaming In 3D”

It was hard to narrow down the list to just these quotes, but these seven quotes from Dreaming In 3D by Doug Clay will give you a good feel for this empowering book. You can read my complete review by clicking here.

Unless otherwise noted, the quotes are from Doug Clay:

“The poorest of all men is not the one without a nickel to his name. He is the fellow without a dream.… [He is like] a great ship made for the mighty ocean but trying to navigate in a millpond.” —Kenneth Hildebrand

“For me, a healthy view of God’s dream and of becoming His masterpiece begins by avoiding comparison—in fact, carefully defining who I’m not. I can certainly learn by observing the talents and failures of others, but God didn’t call me to be a carbon copy of them. He created me to be an original edition. If I spend my time comparing my status to others and checking where I am on the acceptability scale, my focus is entirely on me, not on God and His purposes. …Most of the time, comparison produces either pride (if I think I’m doing better than others) or discouragement (if I’m not doing as well). In other words, comparison kills.”

“The works of monks and priests, however holy and arduous they may be, do not differ one whit in the sight of God from the works of the rustic laborer in the field or the woman going about her household tasks, but… all works are measured before God by faith alone. …Indeed, the menial housework of a manservant or maidservant is often more acceptable to God than all the fasting and other works of a monk or priest, because the monk or priest lacks faith.” —Martin Luther

“People matter. Christ didn’t die for a cause; He died for people. The focus of a God-given dream is never about the size of an organization, the wealth we earn, or the fame we gain from success. It’s touching people’s lives.”

“What a man actually needs is not a tensionless state but rather the striving and struggling for some goal worthy of him. What he needs is not the discharge of tension at any cost, but the call of a potential meaning waiting to be fulfilled by him.” —Victor Frankl

“In the Trinity, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit love each other and work to accomplish Their unified purposes. God wants us, His Body, to work together to fulfill the dreams He puts on our hearts.”

“No one is outside of God’s incredible dream. Without Jesus, we’re just playing games to impress and control. But when He infuses our lives with love and purpose, we become His partners in the great adventure.”

Dreaming In 3D (book review)

Everyone has a dream. Maybe you’ve forgotten yours, or maybe you are struggling with how to achieve your dream. Maybe your dream seems a bit muddled, and you’re not sure how to proceed. In any of these cases Dreaming In 3D: Finding And Following God’s Amazing Plan For Your Life by Doug Clay is an excellent resource.

The thing I appreciate most about this book is its affirming tone. I never felt like Doug was talking down to me, or belittling my dreams, or even making me feel like my dreams were unrealistic. Using both his personal life story of following the dream God had birthed in his heart, biblical examples of dreamers, and practical steps for achieving your dream, Dreaming In 3D was enjoyable at every page.

Doug’s focus is not on pursuing selfish dreams, but dreams which help others:

“People matter. Christ didn’t die for a cause; He died for people. The focus of a God-given dream is never about the size of an organization, the wealth we earn, or the fame we gain from success. It’s touching people’s lives.”

In addition to helping you find and follow your own dream, Doug also encourages us to be dream releasers for other dream chasers. In so doing, we please God.

Are you ready to find and follow your dream? Are you ready to help others pursue their dreams as well? If so, Dreaming In 3D will help you do just that.

[Check out some quotes I shared from this book here.]

Plant The God Seed

Have you ever been disappointed because you had a dream that died? How do we justify this with the biblical definition of faith which says, “faith is being sure of what we hope for”?

It’s just this:

  • If God takes away a dream, it’s because the dream was too small.
  • God wants us to be more focused on the Dream Giver than we are on the dream.

So sometimes God asks us to let a dream die.

Think of a watermelon seed. It’s not very big, sort of dull in color, and it’s only a single seed. To plant the seed, means you have to take your hands off it: the seed is now out of your sight and out of your control. But it is there—dead in the ground—that a miracle happens!

A single watermelon seed grows 200,000 times its own weight! A colorless seed produces the vibrant greens and pinks of a mature watermelon. And that single seed produces 100+ seeds.

Has God given you a dream? Has He asked you to give up that dream? Then plant that seed! When you do, the results will be more than you can imagine.

“Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of faith is to see what we believe.” —Augustine

These are some of my notes from part 3 of my See The Invisible series at Calvary Assembly of God. I would love to have you join me when we continue this series on September 4.

So, It’s That Easy, Huh?

I’ve been in full-blown praying/planning/dreaming mode for the last couple of weeks. I’m really looking forward to what God has in store for our church in 2011!

Somehow I thought all of this vision “stuff” was going to be a lot of work. But I just discovered a 13-page book that is going to revolutionize my church in just a matter of minutes! I just ordered my copy, and you should too.

(Don’t you wish it really was this easy?)

(Um, for those of you who haven’t figured it out yet: this is a joke. At least the “easy” part is; the “hard-work-and-lots-of-praying” part is for real.)

Put Your Dream To The Test (book review)

Dream Test I’m a HUGE John Maxwell fan. He has been a mentor-from-afar for me for a number of years. So I know whenever I pick up a Maxwell book I’m going to be challenged and stretched in my thinking. Put Your Dream To The Test lived up to my expectations.

What’s your dream? Everyone has a dream, so what’s yours? I have always loved this quote from T.E. Lawrence:

“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.”

If you are a “dreamer of the day” you will find great value in reading this. In this book, Dr. Maxwell guides you through ten questions to help you refine the pursuit of your dream—

  • Is my dream really my dream?
  • Do I clearly see my dream?
  • Am I depending on factors within my control to achieve my dream?
  • Does my dream compel me to follow it?
  • Do I have a strategy to reach my dream?
  • Have I included the people I need to realize my dream?
  • Am I willing to pay the price for my dream?
  • Am I moving closer to my dream?
  • Does working toward my dream bring satisfaction?
  • Does my dream benefit others?

In typical Maxwell fashion, I was challenged to think differently, I was encouraged to renew what I have already learned, and I realized some things I needed to give up. One of the aspects of Maxwell’s books that I especially appreciate is how energized I feel after reading them. I feel like the counsel he gives me has prepared me to live my life more fully.

If you have a dream that is bigger than you, good! If you have a dream that size, I would strongly recommend that you read this excellent book to help you see your dream and seize your dream.

Even Greater Things

A stream-of-consciousness post. This is just how the Holy Spirit speaks to me, and I hope it will be helpful to you too.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” —Jesus (John 14:12)

“God is looking for people through whom He can do the impossible—what a pity that we plan only the things we can do by ourselves.” —A.W. Tozer

“I don’t want to live my life in a way that the best I can do is the best I can do.” —Mark Batterson, in Wild Goose Chase

“God’s gifts put man’s best dreams to shame.” —Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Sonnets Of The Portuguese

I’m dreaming big dreams today—dreams of “even greater things”—impossible dreams that would fail unless God helps me.