Is God Even There? Series

As a two and three-year old I used to gather all my stuffed animals together and stand up on box and begin to “preach” to them. My Mom called me her “little preacher boy.” As a child God put within my imagination the dream of being a preacher.

As a teenager I began to pursue my divine-daring dream to one day being a preacher. I recognized God’s call upon my life. While my friends in high school questioned the direction for their lives, I had a path laid out in front of me to attend Evangel College and then enter full-time ministry.

Unfortunately I found a detour in the road I had chosen. Instead of completing college in 4 years and seeing my dream fulfilled, God entered me into the “school of hard knocks.” While I was in my first year of college at Evangel, the Lord told me that His plan would be fulfilled “IN HIS TIME.” God set my schedule. Little did I realize then that it would be another 8½ years before the dream God had put in my heart as a child and developed as a teenager would finally become a reality.

Chasing or running after a divine-daring dream is a PROCESS, pursuing your God-given dream TAKES TIME. Wouldn’t it be great if the Lord gave us His dream for our lives, and we woke up in the morning and found that all our dreams had came true? Unfortunately that isn’t reality; that’s fantasy! When God gives us a dream it takes time.

Last week we began our 50-day spiritual adventure, “Daring to Dream Again; Overcoming Boundaries that Hold You Back.” As we looked at the life of Gideon, we saw that in order to pursue our dreams we need to let God heal our painful past. Unforseen tragedy, the circumstances of life, failure, or weariness have caused many dreams to come to a premature end. A painful past blinds the imagination; hope is lost, and you lose your ability to dream.

God wants us to dream again; He wants to open the eyes of our imagination! However, the miracle of resurrected dreams is impossible unless we are willing to cooperate with God. Only as we take the three steps that God called Gideon to take can we be set free from our painful past as to dream again.

Step 1: Embrace your God-given identity. A Gideon perspective says, “I’m a nobody”, but God sees us differently. In God’s sight Gideon was a mighty warrior. Like Gideon we must let go of our false identity and embrace our God-given identity.

Step 2: Live out your God-given identity. If we are going to see our dreams realized, it requires ACTION. Dreams will not come true by accident; God calls us beyond our own excuses to obedience. We must move forward in faith living out our new identity as we pursue a God-given dream.

Step 3: Acknowledge God’s presence in our lives. God promised Gideon that He would be with Him. God is not uninvolved in our lives; He is with us always empowering us to run after our dream.

Because it takes time for our dreams to be fulfilled, we often find ourselves wondering, “Is God Even There?” When your dreams are delayed, “Is God Even There?” How will you answer that question? How can you know He is there?

Why is it important for us to acknowledge God’s presence in our lives? Why do we need to know that He is there?

When we know that God’s presence is with us, that God is working in our lives, then we can hold onto our dreams. Believing that God is involved in our daily lives keeps the dream alive because we know that God is working on our behalf to accomplish the dream.

If you struggle to find God with you each day then in time your dreams will fade. When we lose sight of God’s activity in our lives and have to rely upon human energy, then we often see our dreams as impossibilities that we can never attain.

DAVID WAS GIVEN A SPIRIT-INSPIRED DREAM TO BE THE KING, but it didn’t happen automatically; it took time. Along the way David ran into many obstacles and detours that had the potential to be dream killers, but the God-given dream remained alive in David because he continually acknowledged God’s presence in His life.

The dream to be king did not begin with David; it was birthed in the heart of Samuel. Look with me at 1 Samuel 16.

+ 1 Samuel 16:1 The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king." (NIV)