“I dream my painting and I paint my dream.” ― Vincent van Gogh That’s one thing that we don’t do enough of.  We don’t dream enough.  I believe that my life will ultimately be defined by my dreams.  And so will yours.  Tell me your dreams and I’ll tell you the ceiling of your life.  Dreams set the destination and direction of our lives.  You’ll never reach a point past your dreams.

Yesterday I spoke about having dreams and about how our heavenly Father has big dreams for us.  Today I want to talk about the steps we need to take to turn those dreams into reality.  I’ll talk about the first two steps today and then continue in my next post on Thursday.

Step 1:  DEDICATE my life to God

The starting point is always God, not you.  This step is so crucial because the goal isn’t to discover my dream for my life; the goal is to discover His dream for my life.  His dream will always be “exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20).  So the first step is to say YES to God’s dream, and then to go through the process of discovering what I just said YES to.

Easy right?  Ha ha.  Not exactly.  In fact, it’s actually the hardest step in the process.  It’s not easy to say YES before I know what I am saying YES to.  But no one said realizing your dream is supposed to be easy right?

The first step is to sign a blank check and give it to God and say “I give you my life God.  You guide it as You see fit.  I trust You and I trust Your plan more than I trust my own.  I know that Your will for my life is good and perfect and I humbly submit to Your dream for my life.”

You’ll never realize God’s blessing in any area that hasn’t been fully dedicated to Him.  Period.

Step 2:  RESERVE time alone with God

Now that you’re committed to discovering His dream, it’s time to start looking for it.  The thing about God’s dream for your life is this.  It can’t be discovered; it can only be uncovered.  It can be researched; it must be revealed.

You can’t say “I am going to pray hard this week and fast for 3 days and read my Bible and by the end I will know God’s dream for my life.”  It doesn’t work like that.  God’s dream is not a hidden treasure chest in the jungle somewhere.  We are talking about a dream that God has on His heart and He wants to reveal to your heart.  But that takes time…quiet time…alone time with God.

When a father has something special to share with his son, he isn’t going to do so while his son is watching TV or playing video games or out with his friends.  He is going to wait for a time that he and his son can be alone together – in a quiet and undistracted setting where they are not rushed or hurried.  Then, when the atmosphere is right, he will open his heart to his son.

Are you giving God a chance to open His heart to you?  Are you giving Him a time of undivided attention so that He can reveal His dreams to you?

Stop saying “God never speaks to me.”  That is incorrect.  Are you ever giving Him the chance?  Or are you always surrounded by noise and distractions?  TV, music, internet, cell phones, twitter, blogs (except this one of course).  Noise noise noise!!!  How is God supposed to get through if He’s always getting a busy signal when He calls?

Here’s my question to you:  how valuable is God’s dream for your life?  Is it worth an hour of quiet a day?  Is it worth a day/weekend every few months?  What’s His dream worth to you?

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”  (Jeremiah 29:11)

For discussion:  What steps do you need to take today to get closer to God’s dream for your life?