Dreaming With The Lord

Jul 28

A friend of mine recently came to me with this- “Sarah, I feel like the way you go about life often includes dreaming up new ideas with God. What is this process like- how do you dream with God?”

This friend was right, almost all of the grand ideas, the small plans, and the creativity that comes out of me I attribute back to God. Here is a glimpse into my process of dreaming + I hope it inspires you to create and dream with our Good God too.

I would be remiss if I didn’t start by explaining how this process happens first with awareness and internalization of the character of God. I start by remembering that God is Creator, Author, and Potter. I also remember God created, and then called it good (Genesis 1:31).

One of my best friends likes to quote Bob Goff, reminding me that “God never compares what He creates."

A lot of creating and dreaming is intensely personal and yet, when we do it with the Lord, we do so in a way that has to yield to and honor who He is. Why? Because we know who we are when we know who He is.

There are different ways that dreaming with the Lord happens for me and it’s definitely not one size fits all. This is just - “these sizes fit Sarah, feel free to try them.”

Random Ideas-

The first category that comes to mind is probably the most sporadic. Random Ideas. Do you ever just have random ideas, or thoughts that have renewed energy behind them? This is my brain all the time. I have learned this is not how everyone's brain works! When people ask me what I want to do for a living, about 12 answers pop into my brain. When I think about the ways I could spend a free Saturday, there are always numerous options bouncing around. Maybe because I like a lot of things, maybe because I don’t enjoy the construct of having to choose- But the scoop with new ideas, regardless of how they come to you, is that motives are really important.

A word on the voice of God

One of my favorite authors, Jess Conolly, says that she would rather give God all the credit for the things that pop into her mind than give herself glory for the ideas she takes action on. This isn’t to say she doesn’t sift through and discern with Holy Spirit, but if ideas are better than what her natural brain normally comes up with, she gives God the glory. She says she would rather get to Heaven with a life full of saying, “I think God is asking me to move in this direction,” than to get to eternity and have God say, “I was speaking to you all along and you never perceived it.” This is the posture behind what I am about to say about motives.

Knowing and yielding to the voice of God has to hold hands tightly with the motives in your dreaming + creating.

A word on motives

The honest reason behind what ideas get action behind them, and sifting out the ideas that you aren't going to take steps with, matters.

Personally, I need to tread very lightly on ideas that are not rooted in honoring the Lord, enjoying His creation, reflective of His character, or advancing the Kingdom of God. A lot of time when I am dreaming up a new idea I will ask myself, “Why do I want to do this? What do I hope comes of it?”

When answered honestly with the Lord, your responses can reveal the innermost parts of your heart in ways only the Holy Spirit can. If selfish ambition or self-promotion is at the root of this, it’s probably worth more thought.

Can I be raw for a second? Sometimes God has asked me to do things in obedience, but in the process of carrying them out, I turned it into more about me than about Him. Then what? Repent, go back to the drawing board, keep being obedient.

Dreams over time

Another way dreaming with the Lord happens is when the Lord puts dreams in us. These are different than random ideas. These are the slow-cooking marinated ones. These are the ones that over the course of our life different experiences connect together to birth something only God could create. It is like having downloaded software of things you know you want to do. These are the passions that keep you up at night, the ones you have wild amounts of energy for. These are the Kingdom advancement kind of dreams that are worth honoring the value assigned to them. These are the dreams that you will regret not following through on. For example, I have known for many years now that the Lord has put a dream of serving teen moms in my life. While I am serving teen moms in this season, I also continue to ask Him for fresh vision of what’s next.

A question to help guide these dreams might be “What happens if I don’t follow through on these dreams? Who loses out if I don’t keep going?” Let that be your motivator when obedience and dreaming get hard.

My Best Advice?

Get alone with Jesus.

It’s that simple. He will both reveal the desires of your heart and put new ones in you. He will show you the personal way He creates.

Get in the Word of God.

It will soften your heart for your community, it will point you to the best news ever, it will light a fire in you to work out dreams only the Lord could give you. Let the Word of God reveal who God is and in turn who you are. Let this be the foundation for all the dreaming you do with Him.

Then act. It’s harder to edit something that isn’t written than to put together a manuscript of imperfect pages. Work with what you have. No one expects perfection, so take the pressure off and try.