Dreaming God-Sized Dreams
2 Kings 13:14-19 14 Now Elisha was suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. "My father! My father!" he cried. "The chariots and horsemen of Israel!" 15 Elisha said, "Get a bow and some arrows," and he did so. 16 "Take the bow in your hands," he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands. 17 "Open the east window," he said, and he opened it. "Shoot!" Elisha said, and he shot. "The LORD’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!" Elisha declared. "You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek." 18 Then he said, "Take the arrows," and the king took them. Elisha told him, "Strike the ground." He struck it three times and stopped. 19 The man of God was angry with him and said, "You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times."
Intro: Most of us like to play it safe. Don’t rock the boat too much. Don’t get too excited about anything. That may come from having a laid back personality or maybe you’ve just been socially conditioned to do life that way.
-Now I understand that not every phase of this life is a call to arms or a rally to conquer the world. However, I cannot help but sense that far too often we settle for considerably less than what God has in mind for us. That’s why I want to talk about dreaming BIG today – especially as we face a new year in just a few days.
-Dreaming BIG can be risky business. Why? Because the bigger you dare to dream, the less happy you are with the status quo. The bigger your dream the greater your discontent with just floating through life. Big dreams make you NOT want to row, row, row your boat gently down the stream. Rather, let’s rock, rock, rock this boat and hit some white water rapids! Let’s get some adrenalin pumping and go have an adventure!
-Maybe that doesn’t sound all that great to you. Some of you have had all the adventures you want to have and are happy to take things kind of easy for the rest of the journey. If that is what God has called you to do, then you have my blessing. However, if you’ve taken yourself out of the game on your own, I hope that something will awaken in you today and that you will realize how much more you have to offer when you let God drive. Where there is no vision / revelation / God-sized dreams the people do their own thing. I think you would agree that doing our own thing cannot compare to doing what God calls us to do! It is less fulfilling, less thrilling, will help fewer people, and will ultimately push us away from God. That’s why I feel compelled to speak today on Dreaming God-Sized Dreams. Here’s the main idea of the message:
Prop: When we dare to dream the dreams God has for us, we will be amazed at what He does in and through us.
I. Don’t minimize God’s Dreams by small living
-As we read in 2 Kings 13, King Jehoash responded to the word of the Lord half-heartedly. When Elisha declared victory over their enemies and told Jehoash to strike the ground with the arrows, the king took the arrows and went “Tap, tap, tap.” Elisha was angry with him and said he should have struck the ground several times and he would have totally destroyed his enemies.
-This might seem like a puzzling story to you, but here is one thing I get out of it: Sometimes the word of the Lord is only as effective as our reception of it! Sometimes our response to what the Lord is saying will determine how it plays out. Jehoash did not have a passion to be victorious over the enemy, and it showed in his response to God’s word through Elisha. Now, Jehoash was the king of Israel, and v.11 says he did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not turn away from the sins of the king before him. It is likely that sin kept him from seeing the enemy as the threat it really was, both spiritually and physically. So, I think sin kept him from dreaming God’s dream. It just wasn’t in his heart to respond any differently than he did. The purity was missing. The passion was missing. The power was missing!
-This story tells me that small thinking comes from small living. Small living is doing life without God – doing our own thing rather than God’s thing! Small living is choosing to do evil in the sight of the Lord, refusing to turn away from the things that dishonor God.
-Is there such a thing as small living for a Christian? Ideally, NO! But unfortunately some of us have settled for small living. Perhaps each of us could think of ways we have taken the easy way out. Maybe we’ve constructed some pretty good excuses for why we don’t do what God has gifted us for and called us to do. “That’s just not who I am. I don’t have time. You don’t know what I’ve been through. We tried that before. I don’t want to get tied down.” Maybe you’re afraid to get excited about what God is saying, but guess what? Perfect love casts out fear. As we come close to God and realize that He can be trusted in everything, then we can step out in faith and embrace His dreams wholeheartedly!
-Small living will minimize your success in this life and your reward in the next. Settling for small dreams is inconsistent with God’s Plan for our lives. The size of your Dream reflects the size of your God. How big is your God? How big does He look to those around you who get their view of Him by looking at your life?
-Regardless of how big our own view of God is, He is huge! Not only is He huge, but His love for us is huge! And because His love for us is so huge, His plans and dreams for us are huge as well.
-Jeremiah 29:11-13 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
-And that is the greatest thing of all – to find the God who loves us. God says, “I don’t want to harm you. I want to bless you and provide everything you need to enjoy this life I’ve given you. But the blessings I have for you can only be received when you come close to Me and talk to Me. When you talk to Me, I will listen to you. I’m not hiding from you. I want you to find Me, and you will, when you put your whole heart into looking for Me.”
-WOW! Are those BIG dreams or what? And when we do find God and begin a heart-to-heart relationship with Him, He will do a work in us that will amaze us and all who are watching! He will work on us and in us so He can work through us to help others.
Ephesians 3:20 [Glory] to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…
II. Dream BIG Dreams that come from the heart of God
-Proverbs 29:18 ”Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint.” When people don’t hear from the heart of God, they lose their way.
-Author Gary Collins says it like this: “When vision fades, passion cools, enthusiasm dissipates, indecision and inertia take over, and hope disappears.” We need dreams!
-As we get to know God through His Son Jesus, He will speak His words and revelations of Himself into our hearts and minds. He speaks to us in many ways. First, God speaks through the Bible. Both written and spoken Scriptures have been the source of truth for God’s people for thousands of years. The first section of the OT was written around 3500 years ago by Moses, although oral accounts of Israel’s history and the creation of this world were passed along much earlier. We can trust God’s written word to guide us as we discern the dreams that are in our hearts. God also speaks to our hearts and minds by His Holy Spirit. He sometimes gives visions and dreams and supernatural knowledge and wisdom. God is the giver of life and He wants His people to be full of His life so we can share His life with those He allows us to cross paths with.
-Have you ever allowed yourself to dream? What would you like to see happen in your life in the next 12 months? Let’s start with your family. What dreams can you come up with for your family? What would need to happen for your family to be happy? What would it look like? The Walton’s? The Cleaver’s? Maybe not, but try to imagine your family working as a team. Far from perfect, but all on the same team. For some, the family dream would entail the absence of abuse, whether verbal, physical, or emotional. For some it would mean talking things out, trying to understand one another’s feelings.
-How about your spiritual life? What would you like to see happen in your relationship with God? How close do you want to be to Him? What questions need to be answered in your heart and mind? How can you go about finding those answers?
-What kinds of dreams do you think God has for you in other areas? Your health: diet & exercise, healing in your body. Your emotions: healing from past hurts and offenses. Your friendships: healthy, give and take, someone whose shoulder you can cry on & vice versa. How about your finances? Do you think God wants to help you experience financial freedom? Debt free, able to give to others in need?
-Here’s a good one. What kinds of dreams has God put in your heart for His church? What would a God-sized dream look like for life and ministry here at Christian Life Center? Yes, we believe God wants us to finish the Youth and Children’s Center upstairs. And we believe He led us to purchase the house and property next door. I wonder what He has in mind? Is anybody dreaming God-sized dreams for reaching and helping kids, teens, young adults, singles, families, single-parent families, elderly, shut-ins? God, how do You want to use us to bring healing and life to people in our community who are hurting and just trying to survive another day?
-I really believe that God wants to give you a God-sized dream that will stir up your passion and utilize your gifts so you can meet a human need. Maybe you are already living the dream God has given you. Wonderful! But don’t settle for good when God has something better in mind! Dream BIG! We have a BIG God who is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ask or imagine.
-One way to measure your dream is to ask how it helps others. “If your vision is for a year, plant wheat. If your vision is for a decade, plant trees. If your vision is for a lifetime, plant people.” (Chinese Proverb). Let’s talk more about evaluating the dream.
III. Evaluating Your God-Sized Dreams
-As God speaks to us and we begin to catch the dreams that are coming from His heart, we need to evaluate them based on the following criteria. I’ve borrowed this list from Ministry Coaching International, which I’ve been involved with for the past year and a half. Some of these relate to a church or ministry, but several are helpful as we evaluate the plans and dreams we believe God put in our heart. Are they from God or did somebody mess with the Kool-aid?
Evaluating a Dream or Vision
1. Consistent with Scripture. No vision from God will violate any biblical teaching. Every vision for an individual or organization is consistent with God’s plans as recorded in God’s Word.
2. Consistent with your spiritual gifts, values, and passion.
3. Rooted in a sense of history. What are the purposes that led to the establishment of your ministry? Why was it founded and why should it, or not, continue to exist? Self-perpetuation is not necessarily Biblical.
4. God-Given. We’re not here to do our own thing. Does the vision of your ministry look like God’s fingerprint? Is this a vision that originated in God’s supernatural blessing and empowerment?
5. Worthwhile. God-given visions are worth living for, sacrificing for, committing to, and maybe even worth dying for. Make certain that your vision is relevant and needful.
6. Clear and concise. Visions are easy to understand, remember, and communicate. (It may take some work to articulate your dream, or express it well to others, but you should be able to express the heart of it in a sentence or two.)
7. Characterized by high ideals. Vision must include commitment to excellence and integrity. It must reflect your convictions.
8. Ambitious. The best visions will guide, often amaze, and move people forward toward something much better than the status quo.
9. Scary. God-given visions can be life changing, pulling us out of our comfort zones, instilling awe, stretching us beyond what we may see as our limits.
10. Unique. Does your vision really reflect who you are? If people who know you well are surprised by your vision, you probably don’t have the right vision. And if your vision is the same as everyone else’s, something is wrong.
11. Compelling so people will want to own it. Visions feel right. They excite, motivate, and generate enthusiasm. The more you reflect on the vision, the more you are convinced that this is what you have to do. If your vision brings a “ho-hum” response from others, something is wrong. If it doesn’t inspire you, forget it. Visions that don’t inspire aren’t God-given visions. [Adapted from Christian Coaching, by Gary Collins, p. 126.]
IV. Putting Legs on the Dream
LIFE PLAN WORKSHEET
Life Account 1
Clarify Your Vision: Author George Barna comments that “Vision” is not always incremental; instead it could be a total redevelopment. Imagine, dream... where do you want to be years from now? Think of vision as your aspiration, as your definition of “success” in this area of life. What do you want to see when you look into the future for this Life Account? What is the end result you would like to achieve?
Key Scripture: What verse inspires this vision? Is your aspiration for this Life Account shaped by a specific passage of Scripture?
Action Plans: Develop actions that can be measured (daily, weekly, monthly, annually), and will help you complete your vision.
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-Put these action plans on your calendar as commitments.
-If you can’t enter these activities in your planner, spend more time on this step. You need to be able to schedule and track your progress and success. Your action plans must be measurable.
-Track your progress. Review your Life Plan regularly. Assess your account balances. Sunday evening or Monday morning is suggested.
-When I first started receiving coaching for personal and ministry development, I took a day away to pray and develop a life plan. I came up with 7 areas I felt the Lord wanted me to focus on over the next year and used a life plan worksheet to help me gain some focus and a plan of action for each area. I’ve provided copies of these worksheets to help you try to move ahead with the dreams God has been dropping into your heart. If you can take a whole day away to pray and evaluate your life, please do it. It is time well spent. Remember, insanity is doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result. Escape the insanity for a day and find a place where you won’t be bothered, and do some soul searching. Ask God to speak to you and prepare you to receive the dreams He has for you.
-You might make copies of this and look at 3, 5, or 7 areas where you want to grow or change. Ask the Lord to guide you. The different areas might be your relationship with God, with your spouse, with your children, with other family, your church involvement, your work or small business, your finances, your health, fitness, diet, etc. It is between you and God. He will help you with a God-sized dream and a plan of action. Of course, if it is a God-sized dream, it is something you could never pull off by yourself anyway. However, there are probably actions steps that will help prepare you and bring you closer to the reality of what God is calling you to. These action steps are like deposits into these life accounts. The more deposits and investments you make into that account, the better the return will be.
-This is a practical way for you to move forward with what God is calling you to do. I hope you will see the value in it and use it to bring clarity and purpose to your life in the coming year.
Conclusion: As we close, God is thinking of you! He has plans and dreams for you that are so amazing that if you were to see them all at once, they would overwhelm you! So, don’t minimize God’s dreams for you by small living. Doing our own thing is a sorry substitute for living the dream God has placed within us and created us for. Be bold and dream God-sized dreams. You may find that they are so big that there is no way you could have come up with them yourself. Use wisdom and discernment as you evaluate the dreams in your heart. God will guide you if you include Him in every decision.
-I’d like to close with a God-sized promise for a God-sized dream: Psalm 37:4-5 4 Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass.
