Becoming a Dreamer
April 29, 2012
Joel 2:28-32
Last week we took a look at God’s command to Ezekiel to walk into a valley of dead very dry bones. The purpose was for God to bring life back into these bones. Sometimes in life we walk through those valleys, valleys where we feel like those very dry dead disjointed bones. We’ve lost hope, we’ve lost feeling, we feel like we’ll never get out of the valley.
Our dreams, hopes, and aspirations are gone. Often times, it’s easy to give up on our hopes and dreams. Too many times that’s the preferred way, because it’s easy to play the blame game. We can blame situations and people. Even when we really didn’t have a choice, it simply means that a door has closed, but new doors, new dreams are available, but will we go down that path and allow ourselves to dream once again.
The people of Judah were struggling as well. In the 1st chapter of Joel, we quickly learn there was a horrendous locust invasion which devastated the land. The people were deep in sin, they were hurting and there was a call from Joel for the people to repent and turn back to God. They felt beaten up, they were being oppressed by foreign nations and even by locusts.
It’s hard to have dreams and hopes when you’re disjointed and dry. I’ve come to realize that even when we aren’t in the valleys of life, it’s still hard to dream. We live in such a fast paced life, that when you stop and think about it — oh wait a minute, that’s an oxymoron, we don’t have time to stop and think, and not for a minute, maybe a second works better.
But, lest I digress, now what was I talking about?
When was the last time you gave yourself permission and the time to stop . . . just to stop doing what you were doing and dream and plan and envision a future? We don’t do it, especially us adults. Kids naturally do it, they dream about what they’ll be and do.
So, the people in Judah are struggling, and then Joel tells us these words ~
28 “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.
29 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days.
30 I will show wonders in the heavens
and on the earth,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
32 And everyone who calls
on the name of the LORD will be saved;
for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
there will be deliverance, as the LORD has said,
among the survivors whom the LORD calls.
Joel starts out this section of scripture saying, “and afterward...” You see, he’s referring to a few verses earlier where he told the people ~ 12 “Even now, return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.”
13 Rend your heart and not your garments.
Return to the LORD your God,
for He is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.
You see, God is calling on His people to dream dreams and to have visions, because He wants to pour His Spirit on you.
What about us? What about us? Have we turned our hearts to God? I love the way Joel says it, God doesn’t want you to tear your garments, He wants you to tear your hearts — to repent and fast and weep and mourn. To let go of the past and to embrace a future which is based on a full relationship with the Lord. You see, He wants to pour His Spirit into our hearts, spirits and minds — which leads us to dream and have visions.
What’s your dream? Do you have any? For most of us when we reach adulthood, we give up on our dreams and face reality . . . we need to earn a paycheck, not be a dreamer.
Remember the song - ‘To Dream the Impossible Dream.’ What image to we get from the title, the dream is impossible. Or remember the song from a group called Supertramp, “dreamer, nothing but a dreamer.” Dreamers are usually looked down upon, they dawdle and waste their time. Yet, without dreamers, we’d be living in a backwards world. Dreamers are a gift.
Each of us has been created in God’s image . . . and frankly God is the biggest and greatest of the dreamers. Look at what He’s created, think of His imagination and creativity . . . the dream that He made into reality.
God destined each and every one of us for GREATNESS. Do you think God would settle for anything less than greatness in His people? NO!!!
Look at these scriptures. They’re there to remind us that we have been CHOSEN and CALLED by God.
1 Peter 2:9, 11 ~ 9 But you are a CHOSEN PEOPLE, a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD, a HOLY NATION, a people BELONGING TO GOD, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Ephesians 1:4-6 ~ 4 For HE CHOSE US in him before the creation of the world to be HOLY and BLAMELESS in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us to be ADOPTED as HIS CHILDREN through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will.
Colossians 3:13 ~ Therefore, as God’s CHOSEN PEOPLE, HOLY and DEARLY LOVED,
Paul is reminding us, Don’t waste your life – make it count. Be all that God made you to be. One of the hot markets today is Career Planning. Seminars are popping up everywhere, offering things like temperament analysis and competency tests. People are paying lots of money just to have others tell them what they're good at. Why? Because we all need somebody who will help us discover our gifts and who will challenge us to develop, strengthen, and use them.
The Glory of God is man fully alive ~ Ireneaus.
To be fully alive is to be filled with God’s life and Spirit.
It’s fullness of peace, joy and righteousness.
It’s being filled with anticipation of fulfilling God’s purpose.
To be fully alive is to be filled with an awesome awareness of how much God loves us.
It’s to be totally convinced that no matter our Situation, God’s plan is always to bring good, not evil.
To be fully alive is to be free from the tiredness of living in our own strength as we rely on His power.
To be fully alive is to be totally free from our sinful past and all of its guilt and shame.
To be fully alive is to be awesomely aware of God’s plan and purpose for our future.
Those who are fully alive are awake to God’s involvement in their lives.
They exude a sense of wonder and awe.
They inspire others to become men and women of faith.
To be fully alive is to be fully accessible to God - His power, His purpose & His plan.
What a difference it would make if we really believed that God is not committed to our destruction, but to making us fully alive!
If this is so, then why is fullness of life so rare?
Please note that Jesus’ statement about life is married to His statement about the thief. These opposing ideas are two parts of one sentence.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10).
God’s intention for you is fullness of life, but right now that life is opposed. God’s intention is life, but you must deal with an Enemy who has a different agenda.
We don’t live in the garden of Eden. This isn’t Mayberry. It’s not Disneyland. The world in which we live is a combat zone, a violent clash of kingdoms, a bitter struggle against evil forces who are determined to keep us from experiencing life. We’re at war.
Don’t let the thief steal your hopes and dreams. Don’t give him room in your heart, spirit and mind. God wants to give us the abundant life and part of living an abundant life is being able to dream and envision a bigger and better and brighter future.
I want to play the song “Dream the Impossible Dream.” I found this on the Internet yesterday, as I looked at the words I was really struck by the depth of the meaning. Let’s listen, then I’ll close us.
VIDEO
Did you hear those words, the call to reach for the unreachable stars. I hear 2 messages. The first is the call to reach for the stars; but the tag line is that the stars are unreachable. I don’t like that ending. I like thinking and believing as Paul tells us in Ephesians 3:20 ~ 20 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
What great words for us to remember. God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ask or imagine!! So, ask, dream, envision a future that God plants in you! Be a dreamer, dream for the impossible dream! Trust God and don’t be surprised at what He opens up in your life.
