02/20/2025
This morning I am thinking about procrastination and the lack of motion after God has called us to action in dreams and visions. Pastor Oswald Chambers wrote about dreaming and divided them into two different types... healthy dreams that bring inspiration and creativity, and unhealthy dreams that replace activity and accomplishment with inaction. Jesus spoke on a healthy dream as he prepared to take action on His calling:
“But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence.”
John 14:31 KJV
So dreamers can be innovators, and as such they are necessary, and in many cases celebrated, but when dreaming is all we do and isn't coupled with action or forward progress then it becomes slothful and even sinful. I am certain you have heard someone refer to another in a negative way by saying "He is nothing more than a dreamer!" When a person wishes they had done this or that but never makes a move to do so... then it solicits comments such as this. However, when a dream leads the dreamer to create or grasp great things, then it is an altogether different expression... Dr. Martin Luther King was a dreamer and said as much about himself in his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. His dream translated into nonviolent action and changed the world.
T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia Fame) spoke of these two types of dreamers in a quote he is famous for:
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible." - T.E. Lawrence
God doesn't want to show us the great things he desires us to do only to have us dream about them and wish we could do them... He wants action; He wants us to become what T.E, Lewis referred to as "dangerous" men and women of faith as we do His bidding and change the world.
We see these people who dream... people like Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Billy Graham, the Apostles Paul, Peter, and Jesus Himself. They dreamed and then took action. Dreams aren't just for the night; when they come from God they are meant to be lived.
We are meant to take action on our dreams too. Listen as King Nebuchadnezzar dealt with one of his dreams. He had a dream that alarmed him and then sought to understand it... he wanted to take action.
“I saw a dream which made me afraid, and the thoughts upon my bed and the visions of my head troubled me. Therefore made I a decree to bring in all the wise men of Babylon before me, that they might make known unto me the interpretation of the dream.”
Daniel 4:5-6 KJV
Jacob also had a dream and acted upon it...
“And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I.”
Genesis 46:2 KJV
God speaks to us in dreams, and in daydreams that can be visions, and when He does so, there is something there for us to do. The dreams that come from God aren't fantasies or meant for our entertainment, they are given to call us into action... but are we ready and willing to move on them?
I have a daydream regarding a pilgrimage that I haven't taken action on. It lingers and haunts me... my lack of courage convicts me and makes me feel like I am "nothing but a dreamer." I keep praying about this and asking God if He is calling me to a certain place to meet with Him and walk with Him, but I have not moved. Do you have such a calling and dream in your life? Do you have dreams from God that are still unrealized? Are you, like me, procrastinating, and fearful of what might happen, or of how it might change your world? Well, we have a choice to make. We can answer God’s call and live out the dream, or let it pass us by. Which will we choose?
Prayer:
Father, thank you for speaking to me in dreams, and for calling me to action through them. Father, give me the strength, courage, and faith to live out the dreams you give me, and glorify you in so doing. Let me discern your dreams from the false dreams and take action on those things that you have shown and prepared for me because they are your will. Lord, I have personally been locked in the recesses of a dream and been unmoving; lead me into motion Father. Let me trust in you to provide and to sustain me in this vision and your will for me. Show me what you would have me do. Make a way for me Holy Father and then go with me into it. I might not change the world, but there is nothing that you ask of me that is meaningless. Perhaps you only wish to increase my faith and to spend time with me, but I can't pretend to understand the fullness of those things you are calling me to do unless I prayerfully step forward into them. Give me the courage to say, "Here am I!" And then to "arise and go hence." Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God who places me in the midst of dreams and leads me to action through them. Holy are you who speaks in visions and dreams to those who need to see and walk in them. Help me to trust in you Lord, and to know that you will protect and provide for me if I will only step out in obedience. Great are you who gives me dreams, interpretations, and visions, that prompt me to do your will as they are presented. Merciful are you who warns me through some and inspires me in others. Your dreams often correct me when I am going astray and show me the way when I am lost. Help me Abba when I call out to you after waking from my slumber or when turning from a fading vision. Give me wisdom, courage, and strength to not only hear, but to take action when donkeys speak of angels standing in my way, or famine looms and storehouses need to be filled. In Word, vision and dreams, I pray that you will speak to me and guide me as I do your bidding and seek to glorify your name. I pray that you reveal yourself to me in many ways, and that I am moved into action as you do so. Speak to your children is sweet dreams and mighty visions… and may all who dream and see visions say Amen!
Amen!
“Then the angel of the Lord went ahead and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to the right or to the left. When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, she lay down under Balaam. And Balaam's anger was kindled, and he struck the donkey with his staff. Then the Lord opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?””
Numbers 22:26-28 ESV
“Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one; God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years; the dreams are one. The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and the seven empty ears blighted by the east wind are also seven years of famine. It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do.”
Genesis 41:25-28 ESV
Rich Forbes