The Bible is full of God’s dreams and plans. It starts in Genesis with His plan for the world. In Genesis, we read how God created everything from nothing. “Let there be light, and there was light.” He separated day and night. He gathered the water to make land appear. He made stars, plants, animals, and fish. On the sixth day, he made people in His image—men and women, to care for the earth.
What stands out is the order: He works six days and rests on the seventh. He looks at it all and says, “It is good.” Dreaming is God’s way of planning. It means seeing what could be and making it real. He dreamed the temple, a place for His presence. He dreamed through kings and prophets, like Joseph saving his family or Daniel seeing future kingdoms.
We are made like Him, so we dream, too. But sin makes our dreams go wrong, like the Tower of Babel, where people tried to reach heaven on their own. God stopped it, but later used many languages for good at Pentecost. God’s plans always lead to fixing what is broken. Jerusalem means “city of peace.” Kings built it as a center. Prophets saw it destroyed, but also rebuilt. In the end, the Bible shows a new Jerusalem, where God lives with people. It connects to the whole story of salvation and restoration.
Big changes often start with “small” steps. We miss big opportunities by ignoring small prayers. God is big…He made the universe. But He also cares about small things, like a widow’s coin or a boy’s lunch feeding thousands. You are His workmanship, made for good works. To live this, find your purpose. Think on God’s promises. Speak them. Believe them. Psalm 1, which is the first scripture passage I ever memorized, says this about those who meditate on God’s Word: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”
The Word of God is, in essence, like an umbrella above you. It has preeminence over your emotions and over your thoughts. God’s word brings peace and deep quiet. Here’s a personal encouragement I hope you will accept. I’m calling you to come to the quiet, when your dreams are ignored and silence is your only companion. Come to the quiet.
What do you do when it seems like your prayers are not being answered, when it feels like God’s on vacation? When you’re doing your very best, but you don’t seem to be getting any breaks? God uses the seasons of silence to prepare us. We’re not being overlooked. When you see a coworker get promoted or a friend getting married and you’re merely being tolerated and not being celebrated. Know this: God uses this season in our life and wants us to realize that the opportunities of a lifetime must be seized in the lifetime of the opportunity. Preparation must meet opportunity.
Many times God uses the quiet times to prepare us. Nothing may seem like it’s changing on the outside, but great things are happening on the inside. You’re learning to make God your source and put all your faith in God, not in people. Your character is being developed. In those times of silence and quiet, when you feel rejected, trust Him. You can celebrate in your suffering in silence and count it all joy because the Lord is going to use this for His glory. Because no one seems to be celebrating you doesn’t mean that God has forgotten you. It’s just the opposite. Nothing can stop God’s purpose in your life.
We see it in the life of Daniel in the Bible. He was led into captivity in Babylon, but it was Daniel who was used mightily to bring deliverance to the House of Israel. In Babylon, we see it in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They refused to bow or compromise. What you compromise to gain, you always lose. But in the midst of that fiery furnace, there was a fourth man who delivered them. Many dreams are forged in the fire.
The same can be said in the life of King David. As a boy, David was rejected by his own father. When Samuel came, his father didn’t even bring David up to meet the prophet. After Samuel finally anointed David to be king, he was sent back into the fields to tend the sheep. His brothers were in the military, and they mocked him, but nothing could stop God’s plan for David’s life. The silence, seclusion, and sheep forged David into a psalmist, a warrior, and a great king. The same is true for you. If you hold to your dreams and trust in God, He will bring the fulfillment of His purpose for your life.