Do you want to live out BIG dreams with God? Of course you do! But did you know that a certain perspective can directly impact how big you can dream with Him?
I didn't until very recently. Jesus showed me that I had major blocker - one that I wasn't even aware of! It's a perspective that naturally comes from experiencing abuse, toxic relationships, or just a really tough season...and it was severely limiting my ability to dream big with Him.
What was this perspective, exactly? Join me as I spill all the juicy details - and the truth of what Jesus taught me - so that you, too, can be free to dream big with God!
Show Notes:
Intro
Dreaming big dreams. This is something that Jesus has been speaking to me about, consistently, for the past few months. To the point where He can’t possibly make it more obvious.
I’ll share more about that in a couple episodes - where I catch you up on what’s been happening in the life of Jenn for the first quarter of the year. But for now, I want to zero on a specific breakthrough that Jesus arranged. One that removed a huge obstacle when it comes to dreaming with Him.
I don’t know about you, but I’m really grateful that we have a God who focuses on the internal. So, so often we (as humans) focus on the external thing that we want or need…totally forgetting or overlooking the fact that the internal (meaning, who we are inside) affects or informs the external.
The reality is, though, that our perceptions, mindsets, past experiences, teachings we’ve been exposed to, etc. can all affect how we dream. To the point where they’re blockers.
And sometimes, we’re not even aware that these blockers exist. Which was the case with me a few weeks ago as I was sitting in church. For the past few weeks, I had been getting all these words and prompts from God to dream more than I ever have before - and to dream big, bold dreams. Because that’s where God is taking me.
But I wasn’t aware that I had a major blocker. Until my pastor said something during his sermon that suddenly shined a light on this issue - and provided breakthrough seconds later. (‘Cause that’s how amazingly Jesus works!)
My pastor was doing a series on partnering with God. And during the message, he said one line that Jesus used to blow things wide open.
He said that we can’t dream big with God if we’re praying out of a place of lack versus out of a place of God’s abundance.
What did he mean by this?
So, praying out of lack means that we are focused on gaining (or regaining) a sense of normalcy. Or the status quo. We need money in order to pay a bill; we need a car; we need a new job. There’s something that we need for life to be quote/unquote “normal.” And so we pray to God to help supply that thing - whatever it is.
We’re looking at what we lack and simply pray for that lack to be minimally fulfilled. Because our focus is on this deficit that we have; on this thing that we don’t have but need. It’s as if that missing thing (or the thing we need or desire) is a large hole…and our only focus is to fill that hole to make things level or okay again.
That’s our focus. Filling the hole. That’s what it means to pray from a place of what we lack.
…but does that sound like something that aligns with dreaming big dreams with God?
Let’s take a step back and think about those two concepts for a moment: dreaming, which means longing or going after something more - even to the point of extraordinary or seemingly impossible, versus focusing on lack.
Those two concepts are polar opposites.
Which makes sense, right? I mean, this is why when we’ve been in abusive childhoods, or toxic relationships, or another type of really tough season, we didn’t dream a whole lot. (Except for maybe as a young kid - or a form of escape.)
But true dreaming? Like the kind we’re talking about? That doesn’t coexist with a survivor mentality. Which we naturally develop during those kinds of experiences - especially if they were long-term.
Being in survivor mode is all about focusing on what we lack. Or could lack based on the behavior of others. I know for the entire 9.5 years that I was married to my ex-husband, I was constantly worried about lack. My ex-husband spent whatever money we had and I was the one trying to keep the budget together. My ex-husband was always coming up with plans to do this or move here without considering the consequences - financial or otherwise - and so I always felt as if I were teetering on a seesaw that, at any moment, could tip over.
I longed for normalcy; for the status quo. I wanted to stop living in constant worry. But that didn’t happen until after my ex decided we were going to get a divorce.
Couple that almost decade with an abusive childhood and some other experiences, and it’s no wonder that, even until recently, my prayers were focused on lack. On getting that extra money to get out of debt. To have the statue quo in this and in that. My focus had been on filling the hole - to go back to my earlier analogy.
But what Jesus told me through my pastor that Sunday was that approaching life, and approaching prayer, and approaching my perspective of what God can and wants to do in my life, from a place of lack, cannot coexist with having big dreams with Him.
I cannot dream the big dreams, or live the big dreams, that God has planned for me if all I focus on is lack and status quo. Because what He has planned is going to far exceed quote/unquote “normal” and the status quo.
God is God. If He has big dreams for you, they’re not going to be small. They’re probably going to be big; and ignore the rules; and maybe even be miraculous; and have more of an impact than you can ever conceive or imagine.
So, sister, we can’t dream big dreams from a place of lack. I’m not saying that our needs don’t matter - or that God doesn’t care about those needs. They do matter. And God cares about them. But, being God, He can care about those needs and do something bigger at the same time. He has a much wider perspective and, while ours will obviously never match His, we need to widen ours as well.
How do we do that?
We pray from a place of His abundance - instead of from a place of lack.
So what does that mean - to pray from a place of abundance?
It means that we pray from the knowledge that God’s resources are endless. It means that we focus on God and what He can provide instead of what we currently don’t have.
Now, I want to pause here for a second to give a disclaimer. What I’m talking about here is not some form of twisted prosperity theology. What I’m talking about here is a change in perspective - one that focuses on God’s inherent nature and character.
So instead of focusing on what we currently don’t have - and our desire for things to be “okay” - instead we’re focusing on God who has no limits when it comes to what and how and when He can provide.
And that aligns with dreaming big with God, right? If we want to dream big with God, it means that we want to partner with the dreams He has for us. And those dreams aren’t based on our lack; they’re not based on what we currently have or don’t have. Those dreams are based on God’s plan and His ability to get us there and provide whatever it is we need along the way - in whatever way He chooses or deems best.
Dreaming with God means that we are partnering with His abundance. He can open doors and opportunities that we could never orchestrate on our own. He can provide the finances or the financial plan in ways we can’t. He can weave together timings and situations as God that we obviously can’t. He can serve the interests of His kids individually and the Kingdom as a whole at the same time.
God’s abundance covers so many things. There’s abundance in wisdom, in resources, in finances, in connections, in encouragement, in help and support, in timing…it’s quality and quantity. It’s everything.
At the end of the day, the only thing that limits us from dreaming big with God is us. It can be a case where - like we’re talking about today - we’re living with this constant focus on lack. Which means we’re not opening ourselves up to big dreams. Which is what I was doing until recently.
But I also think that certain ideas or teachings also get in the way. Maybe you’ve been burned by twisted properspity theology and so you developed this kind of aversion to money. So you can’t bring yourself to pray for financial abundance.
Or, maybe you believe that every Christian is called to be poor.
Or, maybe you’ve just never been exposed to legit teaching about God having dreams for you and how to go about dreaming with Him. That’s actually part of my story. It’s not until God moved me to Ohio that I’ve been in a church that Jesus is (a) working on cultivating dreams, and (b) actually teaches about that from the pulpit.
Look, everyone’s God-given dreams look different. Some people are called to a dream where they have a lot of money. Some people are called to a dream where they have less money. But God’s abundance extends to more than just finances. Again, it’s also things like timing, connections, resources, encouragement (‘cause even dreams have challenging seasons), etc.
It’s also about how far God wants to take you. One thing that God is doing in conjunction with aspiring me to dream is resurrecting my creativity to even bigger heights than I anticipated. Creativity is a core part of who I am and, until the last year or so, had been lost or set aside for decades.
And not only is God resurrecting that, He’s been essentially telling me that He is going to use my creativity abundantly. That’s why He’s telling me to double-down on my efforts and joy and just go for it.
God has some serious dreams planned based on His abundance.
And understanding that now, how can I possibly go back to praying for the status quo? How can I go back to keeping my focus on what I currently lack? How can I go back to having a much narrower vision of my God and His plans?
I can’t. And guess what? I don’t want to! It’s so freeing to have this breakthrough. I can’t even tell you. I mean, I’ve been trying my best throughout this episode! Hopefully I’m doing Him justice.
Sister, I want you to start working on switching your focus. To start viewing life through the lens of His abundance - and not your lack. Your needs and desires are important. I’m not saying that they aren’t - or that they should be ignored.
What I am saying is that in order to dream big with God…to really, truly dream big with God…we have to change our perspective and our prayers to be based on His character and nature as God…instead of our circumstances. Instead of our lack. Instead of wanting to settle for the status quo. Because those can’t coexist.
To partner with God…to be truly aligned with Him…we need to focus on who He is above all else.
So, sister, I pray that this episode has given you the desire and the motivation to do just that. I know when Jesus revealed this to me, that’s how I responded. I don’t want to go on focusing on the status quo. I want to focus on the big places He wants to take me.
And I pray for the same for you as well. And remember, if you want to connect with other women who are going after God and His dreams, you can join the official Relate Escape Jesus Maiden Community. Just click on the link in the show notes!
Until next time, sister. Cheers!