Pursue your dreams from God
My wife Judy and I were invited to go to Darlington’s First Grade class last month on January 19th to see its presentation celebrating the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It truly was a wonderful learning experience to see first graders who had been taught about the life and times of Dr. King. Each student had painted a picture of some part of Dr. King’s life. They showed images of a student at Morehouse College at the age of 15, a football player his freshman year at Morehouse, his being jailed and having being arrested some 29 times for his campaign for civil rights a picture of Dr. King delivering his “I have a dream speech” and the list goes on and on.
The second part of the program consisted of each student sharing their individual dream with an explanation of how he or she was to make that dream a reality. One student, for example, said that he had a dream about all of the homeless people in our area and that the response to his dream was to get his dad to help him buy some sandwiches, then ride around the community and feed some people who were hungry.
Another student had a dream of owning his own restaurant one day because he loved to eat. Therefore, he would ask his mother to teach him how to cook. And every time he got some money he would save some so that one day he could buy property and build his own restaurant. It was simply amazing as to the dreams and ideas these first graders had, and how they explained them with so much sincerity as to how they would pursue them.
What is a dream? A dream is a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person’s mind during sleep. It can be positive like a cherished aspiration, ambition, or idea. It could be as an athlete who says I fulfilled a childhood dream when I became a part of my college championship football team. Or, a dream can be negative as having a dream about falling from a high mountain.
A dream can also be what we call a daydream. It may be as simple as when one sits down to relax, meditate and think. It is then that something good and positive, or a fantasy might come into one’s mind and decide that it is something one may want to do or become one day.
In the Bible, dreams are sources of divine revelations that indicate what someone should do, revelations of future happenings, or explanations of current events. There was such a dreamer in the Bible by the name of Joseph. In Genesis, Chapters 37- 40, we find the story of Joseph, the youngest son of Jacob (Israel) and he was his father’s favorite son. Not only was he a dreamer, but he could interpret dreams. Resented by his brothers and as the story goes, his brothers plotted to kill him.
The resentment continues when Joseph tells his older brothers that he would one day rule over them. Eventually, his brothers sold him into slavery, but Joseph ended up second in command to the pharaoh in Egypt. Pharaoh trusted him and Joseph’s interpretations of dreams allowed Egypt to flourish in difficult days. Now when Joseph’s brothers came to Egypt for help, they came and stood before Joseph. They did know who Joseph was but he knew them.
Eventually, he told them who he was and they bowed down to him. However, he forgave them and loved them and sent for his father, his brother’s families, and all the Israel nation to an area close to Egypt where they would be safe and would have plenty of food to eat.
The point that I am making is that regardless of our age or circumstances, we should pursue our dreams. It might be something just for you personally, your family, or even your community. Joseph, Dr King, and the Darlington First Graders are examples of godly dreamers. If God is for us, who can be against us? Our dreams can become realities. Believe in your dreams and watch God change things.
In the Bible, dreams are sources of divine revelations that indicate what someone should do, revelations of future happenings, or explanations of current events.