What was your dream? You know, the secret longing, the sacred hope, the quiet expectation you’ve carried in your heart for longer than you care to remember.

We all have them. Some of us have carry our hopes and dreams out in the open. Some squirrel them away in our hearts. But one thing is given. Every human being has something they wish for – whether they admit it, or not.
Perhaps some of us have been fortunate enough to experience some of them. More than likely, there are desires we’ve hidden away, or given up on. It’s the hopes and dreams we’ve given up on that I want to talk about.

I know what it’s like to lose hope. For years I silently waited for God to unveil a dream I’d had to share my story with other’s. I was convinced God had called me to share the incredible hope He had given me with others. I felt His calling on my life, and it was powerful and real.

2 Timothy 1:9 He who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

Still, something kept me from walking through some of the doors God had clearly opened for me.

What held me back wasn’t fear or doubt, it was the voice of those around me. I asked for permission from others and was told “not yet,” so I waited. I was told “someday,” so I didn’t walk forward. Finally, I was told “no,” and I gave up. It crushed me – for a while.

Proverbs 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

I was sad, but not broken. Time passed. I waited and leaned into him. Soon I began to feel a spark of hope the dream God had given me was too powerful to ignore.

The flame God places in us cannot be extinguished, and soon I began to feel it rise in me again. I began to realize I had let someone other than my creator determines the validity of my dream. Lesson learned – don’t put man’s word above God’s.

Isaiah 2:22 Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?

The thing about dreams is they are individual to each of us. We were singularly designed by God; one of a kind, with unique purposes and dreams. God created to fulfill His purpose and He set that purpose in our heart. Our dreams are God inspired.

Ephesians 1:13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit,

So, if God is the author of our dreams, why should we doubt? Just like in verse three of Psalm thirty-one, God promises to guide us. In Philippians 2:13, He promises not only give us dreams, but to fulfill them. And, in Psalm 37, King David reminds us that with and through God, we are assured of the desires of our hearts.

Psalm37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

Knowing this, I challenge you to give yourself permission to uncover the desires you’ve set aside. Look without fear or trepidation at what you believe impossible, and for a moment consider it possible. Why shouldn’t you? The bible gives us many examples of promises fulfilled, against all logic.

Romans 4:18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.”