Proverbs 29:18  “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

I love the translation of the above often-quoted verse in The Message:

“If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; but when they attend to what He reveals, they are most blessed.”

So many meanings to the word dream: to think, to imagine, to have ideas. An internet search reveals over 200 million sites related to that one word! People of renown have used the word to inspire and challenge: “I have a dream” (Martin Luther King, Jr.); “Nothing happens without a dream.” (Carl Sandburg); “Hold fast to dreams.” (Langston Hughes).

Of all people, followers of God should dream big because God is the reason for our dreaming. From the beginning of time, it has been His plan that all people everywhere know of His great love. He used and continues to use men and women and His creation to tell the story, and the ultimate message came in and through His Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.

With God’s goal in mind and His Holy Spirit to empower us, we can look at the needs of the world and dream about how God would want those needs met.

You will remember when God challenged Moses to lead the people out of Egypt, He asked, “What is that in your hand?”  God had a dream and was ready to use Moses in the fulfillment of the dream, when all he had in his hand was a stick of wood.

We would do well to consistently look at what is in our hands, consider God’s vision for the world and then dream big about how He might use us. We must constantly encourage our children and grandchildren along these same lines. Involve them early in projects where they see how their seemingly small efforts contribute to the fulfillment of God’s dream, projects such as making sandwiches for the homeless, meeting missionaries, going on short-term mission trips and living out God’s vision of love with those around them, especially towards the un-lovely.

When we open our eyes to God’s dream: “what God is doing” and then “attend to what He reveals” we will be blessed.

What are some dreams that you have had about being used by God? Stop right now and think about what is in your “hand.” What skills or talents do you possess that God could use in fulfilling His dream for the world?