We the Dreamers

We the Dreamers

When you feel it
Once you see it
And you BREATHE IT
It’s unforgettable

Lyrics from “To the dreamers” by For King and Country.

The rush is amazing. The thrill is, well, thrilling. There is something a dream does to you! An idea that resonates with your very core has a way of shaking you to your very core. It’s fascinating, at least to me.
There’s one question which always excites me and I look forward to knowing the response every time! “What do you want to be when you grow up?” You can see from the eyes of that young child that a whole world has been opened up. A smile is my instant reflex to this sight.
I have an incredibly adorable little niece, Sindi. She’s never without a spark in her eyes when answering this question. Sindi can make the most “normal” profession seem so enchanting. You should hear her talk about wanting to become a cop. You’d think they are special agents poised to save the world (they do save the world, but you get what I mean) I admire that. I want that! I am almost jealous of it. Her young mind is still tickled by the world and she hasn’t quite learnt the meaning of “impossible”, “reality” and the other words adults chain themselves with as an excuse to be imprisoned at one place and settle for less.

I don’t blame them.
I don’t blame us.
Only God knows how many times I’ve changed the answer to the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Change in interest wasn’t the reason, no, not most of the time. I was trying to choose what was more “practical”. Looking back, and if I’ll be honest with you and the image that stares back from the mirror with eyes that judge me, I was looking for the easiest way out. Boy, have I had beautiful dreams, and then forced myself to re-dream and re-dream yet again?

Yet again, I don’t blame us.
We’ve been scarred; bruised by a cruel reality we didn’t prepare for. Too many failures and disappointments have made our hearts too weak to believe. A friend of mine, during a conversation on new year resolutions, said he stopped making them because he is never able to achieve them. Now, he has “resolved” to let the year just roll on. Many of us have become like this friend of mine. We have had too many “flamboyant dreams” die that now we won’t do it anymore! No expectations, no disappointments, right? We now allow life to just roll on. This same friend of mine has grown tired of believing God for great things because, well, nothing seems to have materialized from that. Well yes, he believes in God, he’s not atheist, but he believes a lot slowly now. Like a wounded lover, this time his love (faith) will be less of a reckless hurricane and more of a gentle sprinkle. Let’s settle. Let’s stop dreaming. And let’s call that facing reality!

I present to you another reality to face! The same one I presented to this dear friend of mine. Why does failure have to stop you from making resolutions? What if the problem isn’t necessarily the fact that resolutions are set but that we aren’t poised to fulfill them. Before I move on, this is not an advocacy for unrealistic goals like planning to be able to fly like an eagle by the end of the year. No! This is a appeal to the Dreamers and Ex-Dreamers to redefine reality. Reality isn’t what is working in society now or what “trends” and “statistics” have proven to be best practice. Reality is God, Period! And God expects that we dream big, with Him of course.

So Dreamer, are you ready?

Let’s take a look at an ancient Dreamer whose story was told in the Bible – Mr. Joseph Jacob (I’m guessing his father’s name would be his surname), the Zaphenath Paneah and the Dreamer of the Tribe of Judah (or the tribe of any of his sons). His dream seemed so far fetched and so crazy it had to take God to achieve it. And it did! That’s where our focus should be. Where there times when he made new year’s resolutions that “this year I’ll walk in my destined path”? Perhaps.

Did it come to pass? Not for 13 years, until it did! Joseph was still living in the now, in “reality”, yet he still had his eyes fixed on the “ real reality”; what God had told him. We all the know how the story ends.

Perhaps you don’t know how your story ends. Perhaps you aren’t aware of how many people would benefit from the dream God has placed inside you.
Perhaps that’s why you don’t mind living in “reality” and making “practical” plans and ambitions.
What you settle for may seem logical to you. People may praise it. It may be paying the bills and making you look good while you are at it. But deep down, there exists that teeny tiny nudge that won’t let you feel fulfilled. It keeps at it, like a morning alarm when you can’t find the snooze button. It keeps alerting you that you are made for more.
So much more!
And once you get a hold of what God planned for you long ago, that’s when you start living!

“When you feel it
Once you see it
And you BREATHE IT
It’s unforgettable “

Breathe it in!
This is for the Child-Like
This is for the hopeful
This is for those still hanging on to God’s promise
This is for us, the dreamers.

Of course there are a million and one reasons we decide to not have “big dreams”. Over the years (this makes me sound so ancient, gosh), I’ve learnt to question my unbelief and any other thing that prevents me from reaching my full potential. And right here and now we’ll question some of those!

What if I fail?
Ahuh? Yesss? What if I fail? Then I’ve failed! I’ll try again and next time I’ll get it.
See, in my opinion (very humble opinion, please) we give failure too much power. The fact that you fail once doesn’t mean the dream isn’t meant to be a reality. Even fail a thousand times! You can still get it right! The examples of people like that are endless! Google them, go ahead! God Himself had a dream to make man just like Him. Adam didn’t make it. But thousand and thousands of generations after, God is still in the business of perfecting the saints. He doesn’t stop after we mess up (which looks like His dream failed). Let me just say this. I’m not insinuating that God fails (God forbid I say that). I’m making a point. If God becomes like us and judges His successes by how Christ-like we are, then we would say He has failed and this would make Him not won’t want to continue. Yikes! I hate to imagine that! God never gives up on us even when we aren’t “working” because He has seen the end! He has beheld it and it’s unforgettable! May I humbly suggest that we be like our Father in Heaven? Keep that dream alive. Keep going. See the end. See Christ! Once you breathe that in, It’s unforgettable.

What if I’m making a mistake and this dream is not from God?
Really? What if God would order my steps and make sure I’m on the right lane! I won’t dwell on this point too much.
By this time , I hope, the message is clear.

“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” – Vince Lombardi

The Bible is overflowing with many of such testimonies of people who did things that seemed super impossible till God stepped in. Would you have believed Granny Sarah would be a mother? Impossible is what God sounded like speaking to stammering Moses from the burning bush. Imagine being an insignificant shepherd boy and God puts a dream in you to be King over the land. Impossible, no? But that’s why it’s God giving you the dream! Duh!
An interesting twist is that not every dreamer had his dream come to pass. Abraham still lived in tents and so did his son and grandson. Yet, God promised him a whole nation! David, the shepherd turned King, had a dream to build a temple. He couldn’t. His son did. All the same, these people were part of the great Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. God doesn’t judge our work based on the results that everybody sees. I’ll like to believe that God is more interested in the faith we have in Him while still holding on to the dreams He has given us-even if we are hanging by a thread. So chill. Keep your focus on God and keep working hard.

“Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for someone ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing.” – G. M. Trevelyan

I choose to be ignorant of the existence of impossible!
I’m a Dreamer!!
Wide-eyed Dreamer!!
I believe that God is waiting to do the impossible through me.
I dare to see that.
I dare to believe that.
Can you?
Because trust me, it will be unforgettable!

G.O.Ink

Written by radiosonicgh@gmail.com