The Growth of a Dream

God has created each one of us to have goals and dreams. And when He gives us a dream, I often say it’s like becoming pregnant—we conceive (think or imagine) a vision of the new thing He has planned for us.

Now, it’s one thing to conceive the dream, but it’s another to go full term and “birth” the fulfillment of the dream. Ecclesiastes 5:3 (AMPC) says, For a dream comes with much business and painful effort….

I’m sure this is why many people give up on their dreams somewhere along the way. When they find out it will take effort and be costly or uncomfortable to reach their goal, they conclude that it’s not worth it. Or many times people think they must not have heard from God after all.

I want to encourage you to press through the difficult times, because if you give up, you will never be completely satisfied. There’ll be a part of you that won’t feel settled or fulfilled. God doesn’t make everything in life easy, because we grow in the struggle—our faith becomes stronger as we are required to use it.

So how do we successfully grow and give birth to our God-given dreams? Here are three keys to help you get there.

#1: Believe that God is working and expect good things.

Whatever dream God has put in your heart, stand in faith, believing He can bring it to pass. Each day, as you pursue the promise He has given you, make it a habit to say, “God is working!” You may not know all the details of how it is going to work out, but that’s okay.

God knows everything from the beginning to the end (see Isaiah 46:9–10). He is in control, and He can bring it to pass!

Resist the trap of falling into a passive attitude that says, “Well, we’ll just see what happens.” You weren’t created to be a passive “we’ll see what happens” kind of person. Instead, you can be spiritually active, even when you feel you are in a season of waiting on God.

When we pray, believe, make faith-filled declarations, and seek God for direction, these are all action steps. And these action steps offer great reward.

David said in Psalm 27:13 (AMP), I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

True waiting on God is never a passive place where you’re doing absolutely nothing. You may be waiting physically, but you can stay spiritually active, seeking God’s direction and putting your belief and trust in Him, actively recalling to mind your dream on a daily basis.

#2: Refuse to give up!

It’s easy to start a process—or to have a dream—but it is much more difficult to see it through. That’s why so many people fall short of seeing their dreams come to pass. They start to obey God—or they start to move in the direction of their dream—but when times get tough or they become weary of waiting, they turn around and run in the other direction.

Dreams are never reached without struggle! I want to encourage you today to keep going. Don’t be stopped by the circumstances that make it look impossible. Don’t be discouraged by the friends or family members who tell you not to get your hopes up.

If you’ll determine to be a person who keeps moving forward—even if it’s just one tiny step a day—you are going to experience a whole new level of joy when that dream is realized. Hang in there, keep going and refuse to give up!

#3: Realize your dream is about more than you.

Many times, people dream of things only for themselves—what they want out of life or what’s best for only them. But Jesus is our example of how to live, and He gave His life for the benefit of others.

Shortly before He was crucified, He prayed: Father…Not my will, but yours be done (Luke 22:42 NIV). Everything Jesus did, He did for us! To really live the dream God has for us, we need to have a “not my will, but Yours be done” kind of attitude.

While you’re waiting for your own dream to come to pass, one of the greatest things you can do is reach out to someone else and help make their dreams come true. As you do, you’re not only sharing the love of Christ, but you are also sowing spiritual seeds for your own breakthrough.

Matthew 6:33 (NIV) says, “…Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” When we submit our dreams to God, asking what He wants to do in us and through us, that’s when our dreams grow…and become bigger than anything we could have imagined.