As children most of us were encouraged to dream big. And we did! Some of those dreams were crazy and unrealistic and they changed with the wind. When we grew up, however, those dreams were eventually discarded because real life has nothing to do with dreams. Even the Disney philosophy that all our dreams can come true are encased in a child’s world. We adults know that dreams are for children.
But, if you think about it, we are God’s children! Listen to this: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.”1 Not only is John reminding us that we are God’s children, he is also telling us that one day—not now—but one day “we shall be like him.” Who shall we be like? Jesus! But that’s one day. What does that have to do with us now? Everything!
As we abide in Christ and he in us, we become more and more like him. What this means is that God’s dream for us is being worked out in our lives now! What I love about God’s dream is that it is not the same for anyone. We are uniquely made, and God has prepared work that is designed for each of us specifically. While we are on this earth, we are to do great work! How do we do that? We find God’s purpose and our fulfillment in life. Some call it finding yourself. Some call it finding God’s will. Paul tells us this about that: “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”2
Knowing God’s will takes discernment, and the first step is not living as the world lives. Disney tells us to find ourselves and to follow our dreams—whatever the cost! It sounds good; it seems right. Certainly, everyone deserves to live life as they wish (upon a star). But that is the world’s method, not God’s. Jesus told the disciples, “Whoever finds his life will lose it.”3 Hmm. This does not make sense. How do we find God’s purpose for our lives unless we look for it? Would not finding our life—the fulfillment of our dreams—be the same as God’s purpose? Maybe. Maybe not.
Remember the key phrase for discovering God’s will: “that by testing you may discern.”2 Simply finding ourselves will lead to disappointment—what we find will actually be lost! Which is why Jesus warns us about it. God knows what we need and tells us to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (that you need) will be added to you.”4 If we are satisfied with what we find in this world, then we will no longer need God, much less seek him. But if we are satisfied with what we find, then do we really need God? The answer is yes—and for many reasons, but the most compelling one is explained by C.S. Lewis in his great sermon “The Weight of Glory.” Here’s what Lewis says:
If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.*
I describe it as setting our sights too low. Sometime after we stopped believing in our childhood dreams, we began to settle in. We ceased to imagine ourselves doing great things; we lowered our standards. We decided that we would rather not be disappointed, and, therefore, we quit believing in things too good, too exciting, too brave, too big. We turned into weak half-hearted creatures, satisfied, and even happy with mud pies and slums.
It’s not too late though. God’s dream for our lives is still alive. We can still attain it if we understand what Jesus meant with the second part of his directive to his disciples: “and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”3 Hmm. This sounds hard. But it is sooo worth it! We’ll study it more next time. Until then, practice dreaming big.
11 John 3:2 2Romans 12:2 3Matthew 10:39 4Matthew 6:33 *Lewis, Clive Staples. The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses, The MacMillan Company, New York, New York, 1949, p. 2.