I know someone who dreams in technicolor! No, it’s more like 3D, Dolby-Digital, enhanced, Blu-ray, awesome vision. This person dreams such vivid and real dreams that I regularly find myself overwhelmed by the next morning recounts. I’m overwhelmed because I feel like I’m getting cheated by only hearing about it – like it’s a watered down version of something that was truly breathtaking.
As an insomniac, I don’t dream very often, or if I do there abbreviated half-dreams. But every now and again (thank you tylenol PM), I get one of those dreams that changes you. It sparks something deep inside of me that pushes me in some new direction. I gotta tell ya, I love those dreams. I love that feeling of waking up and knowing that something has just happened. I’m not talking about the “too much pizza” dreams – the ones that are just strange (though those can sometimes be entertaining). I’m talking of the dream that inspires and captivates.
Four years ago, I had one of those dreams. I was realizing that something in my ministry and life just wasn’t quite where I felt it needed to be. It was as if God was preparing me for something. I had been wrestling hard with where God was leading me and was under a good bit of stress when I dreamed a dream that changed a lot. This dream showed me a gap in what I had been striving to do and the person God had called me to be. This dream launched me to question a lot of things but it also released me from so fears and anxieties that I was bound by – even released me from some demands that I had made on God and what I thought God wanted from me. Fast forward 3 more years and I look at where I’m at now – God is good.
I tell this story because dreams are really important, or at least having a dream. We’ve been living with some Post-Easter encounters that Jesus had with his followers. We looked at Thomas and Peter and will look at the men on the road to Emmaus and Mary Magdalene in upcoming weeks. All of these encounter though highlight this dream idea. Jesus didn’t just drop some info on his followers, he released them to a dream that was bigger than any one of them. The dream inspired Thomas to go to India as a disciple. The dream inspired Peter to be a pillar for the church and a voice that would advance the kingdom in mighty ways. The dream or the hope that the resurrection brings is still inviting us to dream today.
So, what’s your dream? Where are you allowing the resurrected Jesus to inspire you and move you and even push you? I hope you’ll find some time in the next week to dream. I hope you’ll find that rest and dream big, giant God dreams. Dream big follower of Jesus – and know that He’s freeing us to live Wide Open Lives (2. Corinthians 6 — MSG).
