The Ability To Dream

“When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion, we were like those who dream” (Psalm 126:1)

A dream is an imagination of the heart that looks impossible. In the above text, the Israelites were just released from captivity and were restored back to Jerusalem. Their deliverance was something that looked impossible at the time. When Martin Luther King was alluding in his “I have a dream” speech in the sixties that racism will become a thing of the past, it was a tall order. A dream is a mirage, something that one hopes for but seems unattainable.

One of the ways mankind was made in the image and likeness of God is the ability to envisage or conceive the future and bring it to pass. Below are ways to dream successfully:

Dare to dream: Daring to dream is being able to think unconventionally and out of the norm. In 2 Kings 6:1-6, we read the story of Elisha retrieving an iron axe head that fell into the River Jordan with a stick. The servant who mistakenly dropped the iron axe head in the river cried out to Prophet Elisha in despair. While the servant saw nothing but impossibility in the situation, the prophet envisioned with the eyes of his spirit that the situation was redeemable. Hence, the prophet threw a stick in the river, and then the iron axe head emerged from the river and stayed afloat on its surface.   It wasn’t recorded that God told Elisha to do what he did, but by using his God-given ability of envisaging possibilities, even in dire situation, he was able to produce a desirable result. God likes dreamers because they take the limits off Him.

Renew your mind: Heaven’s thinking is different from natural thinking. Part of renewing one’s mind is to think Heaven’s thoughts. God, in Deuteronomy 8:6-16, was painting a picture of the Promised Land in the minds of the Israelites. He also instructed Moses to send 12 leaders from among them to spy the land. God wanted them to conceive and internalize and dream about the land flowing with milk and honey. But this thought was too high for the Israelites and they couldn’t enter God’s promises. The Bible is to instruct us and also to shape our thinking after Heaven’s perspective. The Bible is a great dream book!

Engage diligence: The Bible says diligence is man’s precious possession (Proverbs 12:27). The diligent man is the one who makes the best use of resources. He is the guy with the five talents who uses his talents and gains five more. The diligent is like Joseph who never trifles with opportunities or wastes experience. Anywhere Joseph found himself, whether in Potiphar’s house or in the jailhouse, he engaged discipline, focus, and hard work. The diligent, sooner or later, will always live their dreams.

Align with other dreamers: A popular quote says, “if you are an eagle, don’t flock with chickens.” Chickens don’t fly. Anyone who intends to operate in a dream frequency shouldn’t be found in the company of dream killers. A major reason the Israelites couldn’t enter the Promised Land was because their influencers (the 10 spies) told them it wasn’t possible. Joshua and Caleb were almost killed literally because they had a different opinion. Martin Luther King drew inspiration from Rosa Park’s refusal to boycott her seat for a white person. This made him launch the massive boycott by black folks of Montgomery public buses that eventually ended segregation on Montgomery buses. Though eagles don’t flock, they draw inspiration from other eagles.

Manifest greatness: Great people are great because they are dreamers and also risk takers. They challenge the norm and status quo always by dreaming. They manifest greatness by daring to put into action the dreams of their hearts. They are what Americans will call crazy people because they have fear in its proper place. Because they are constantly dreaming, they are constantly producing and always on the cutting edge and on top of their game.

Conclusion: “Then he (Joseph) dreamed another dream…….” (Genesis 37:9). It is time to DREAM again. Have a blessed month!