*This post answers a question I was given
Let me begin by saying that I hope I’m wrong, but from my experience God doesn’t care about our dreams. Looking at Bible stories, I don’t see Moses dreaming as a kid to be kicked out of the royal palace and leading a very whiney group of people through the dessert for forty years: (Moses as a child) “I dream of being on a beach that doesn’t have any water nearby where I eat the same meals every day.” I’m also pretty sure Noah didn’t dream of God wiping out all of the Earth’s inhabitants minus what was on a boat he had to build himself: (Noah) “I’m tired of all of this traffic going to work. I wish God would just kill everyone.” These stories ultimately teach us that God’s plans are more important than people’s dreams; of course, that isn’t to say that He doesn’t want good things for us, but the good things often aren’t what we had planned for ourselves. Plus, more importantly, God doesn’t care about your dreams as much as He cares about the motivation behind them because that shows your heart.
I used to dream about being a famous comedian like Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler. I worked hard, wrote and performed a lot, and regularly prayed for it, but it clearly never happened. Did I do something wrong or am I being punished for something I screwed up? No. Was my dream wrong or a “sin”? No, but the motivation certainly was. Part of me wanted to be rich and famous so I could be like Bono and Zachery Levi and use my clout to help people, but the bigger part of me wanted to be rich and famous so I would be worthy of love. At some level I thought I needed others to like me so I could like myself, which is a wonderful way to live (note the sarcasm). I still have a dream of being famous, but I no longer desire it in order to like myself through other peoples’ approval. My desire to be able to help more people on a larger scale has become the main reason… with a second small part of me wanting to rub it into every girl who turned me down… I’m still growing as a person. Being a celebrity would give me a voice more people would care thereby helping me better share my message of loving yourself and others… or as my slogan says: Learning to love dumb people. Will God grant me my dream now that my motivation is better? No. Just because I have a good dream and a good motivation doesn’t mean God owes it to me. Dreams are wonderful because they inspire us and motivate us to work, but their coming to fruition is not a sign that we have God’s approval. I think God is happy I’ve fixed my motivation. He’s happy I haven’t given up on dreaming. And I think He’s really happy that I continue to use the talents I developed even if it’s on a smaller scale like for my practice as a therapist and officiant. It’s not grand, but it is making a difference. For instance, last weekend I did a wedding where a man in his forties called me over to say he thought my ceremony was incredible; he laughed and cried and it really meant a lot to him. I may not have 1000s of people watching me, but I still have the privilege of helping people because I do what I can, which is the heart of what dreams are about.
I believe that God doesn’t care about peoples’ dreams, but I’m really hoping I’m wrong and I’ll be a celebrity soon. Until then, I see dreams being a gift that give us something to get excited about and inspire us to move.
Rev Chad David, www.ChadDavid.ca, Learning to love dumb people