Why I’m Not A Dream Chaser

When I worked for the insurance company, they sent me to a conference where I had to take one of those inventories that puts people in categories. Ideator. That’s me.

I wasn’t surprised.

Details are not my thing. Nope. So when a gigantic dream drops into my head, I have to run — quickly and with haste — straight to God. If the dream is from Him, then He’s the one who will have to make it come true. Because honestly? That is not my gift. I might be an Ideator, but when it comes to details, I have no clue.

And that’s why, in spite of all my dreamy talk these days, I am not an advocate of chasing after dreams.

It’s God who does the dreaming. Right from the beginning, when He said, “Light!” and light appeared, God was making His dreams come true. When God turned to the Son and the Holy Spirit and said, “Let us make human beings in our image…” He was making a dream come true. Because who had heard of light or human beings before God gave voice to His dream?

It’s really no good to be a chaser of dreams. Instead, I have to be a chaser of the Giver of Dreams. I have to run hard after God if the dream has any hope of coming true. None of the big ideas that get dropped into my lap belong to me. They are God’s dreams and, for some reason I can’t quite figure out, God invites me (us!) to steward them for Him so that He can make them come true.

It’s mind boggling, really.

As stewards of the dreams of God, you and I get to lean in close to Him and hold on tight for a crazy ride. He never takes the path we’d take. He never uses the resources we’d choose. He never gets it done in the timeframe we’d prefer. But it’s His dream, not ours.

I’ve been reading your comments and your emails. The ones that say you’ve stopped dreaming, or that dreaming makes you afraid, or that you’re skeptical God even wants us to dream. I hear you. But the more I read, the more I hear the whisper of God, “See? This is why I want this retreat. I want my people to dream. I’ve got big dreams and I’m counting on my people to make them come true.”

Maybe the word “dream” is what throws us off. Maybe we hear dream and think, “corner office” or “six figures” or “NY Times bestseller” or “more blog traffic” or “perfect family” or “size six jeans” or “maybe the Detroit Lions will win the Super Bowl this year” (oops, I digress) and we wear ourselves out before we give God a chance.

God doesn’t dream in American. God dreams in love and grace and mercy and hope. God has wired each of us in a unique way, and He invites us to help Him make His dreams come true. It’s not about chasing a dream. It’s about chasing after the Giver of Dreams, dreams that will change the world (but not necessarily our bank accounts, or our status, or our blog traffic), because His love for us — all of us — is extravagant like that.

Consider reading this, too?

Early bird registration for Jumping Tandem: The Retreat begins in one week! I would really love to spend a weekend dreaming alongside you.