James Duff August 23rd 2015 ~ I have a Dream

When I was a young boy the thing that I most wanted to do and the thing that I most dreamt of was to play cricket for Australia. I had no trouble sharing this dream with anyone who would take the time to listen. When I was a teenager that dream was still there but I began to stop thinking and dreaming about the future because that was just a boy thing to do. I also began to question whether I could actually play for Australia. By the time I was a young adult I was beginning to dream of running a successful business and the Australian cricket dream had died. Being in business was fun, frustrating and often stressful. By the time I was married and had started a family the dream of being in full time ministry took hold and the business dream began to fade.I have other dreams that sometimes I find hard to share. Why is that? Why is it that to share a vision of an exciting future can be seen as head-in-the-clouds stuff? I think there are several reasons and I won’t pretend to understand all of them. Maybe people feel threatened when somebody’s dream is articulated? Maybe it makes them feel less important? Maybe when a personal dream has been expressed, the ’dreamer’ has been quickly cut down, so to express another dream runs the risk of being hurt again? Maybe going public with a dream and then not achieving it will cause shame? I’m sure there are plenty more reasons why dreams are often not shared. What a shame.Recently I have found myself dreaming for other people. When I see and hear what God is doing in other people I begin to dream of a greater future for that person. I dream for my sons, I dream for my wife, I dream for us, the people of St Philips. I think dreaming is good. Of course there are dreams that we think might be good for us but they might be the very thing that God is protecting us from as they will draw us away from Him. I think having a vision and dream for a better life, a better world, a better future is healthy. I think it is because God has placed this dream bug in all of us. Sometimes it might be a little dormant but it is there. The scriptures tell us so.God has set eternity in the hearts of men (Ecc. 3:11). We all yearn for something better because this world is not home. Jesus came and brought the kingdom of God to earth. What we dream of and yearn for - that is, a better life, a just society where tears are no longer and peace reigns - was seen in Jesus and has been promised by him to become complete reality when he returns. What a dream!I would love to hear your dream but most importantly so does God. Let God be the Lord of your dreams. His dream for you is greater than anything you can dream of.God blessJames